Unforetold memoirs
by Winteresque
Summary: Lily Evans has a secret. A very dark secret. One so explicit that not even she herself knows about it. Enter James Potter. He finds himself absolutely infatuated. And he's determined to discover every little thing about his emerald-eyed enigma...
1. Chapter 1

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter one

"… Are you sure about this, Lily? Platform 9 3/4? Really?"

The red haired child nodded in response, looking earnestly up at the blonde teenage adult beside her. Aunt Felicity still looked doubtful as she glanced at her watch. There was only twenty minutes left before she was due at her facial appointment. For a moment, a look of distress passed across her beautifully youthful features. Then she came to a decision. If this all turned out to be some sort of a joke, Lily would know to call and she could pick her up after having lunch with her girlfriends.

"Well… Okay. Just give me a ring whenever you need a lift home, okay sweetie?"

Pecking her niece on the cheek, she hurried off to find her car, leaving the little girl of ten standing alone amidst a sea of people with a trolley filled with a trunk and a cat that purred gently as little fingers ran through the thick white fur.

* * *

"Hey! What does the silly twat think she's doing, sitting there? Now we won't be able to get through!" he cried in annoyance.

The voice belonged to a scrawny boy with long black hair and crossed arms as he eyed the silly girl who had parked her trunk right in front of the entrance to Platform 9 3/4 and _sat_ on her luggage!

"Language, Sirius."

"Sorry Mrs Potter," he muttered.

"Hey, this looks like it might be fun," remarked an even scrawnier boy, looking distinctly like he had just rolled out of bed and put on last week's clothes.

Without further notice, he ran up to the girl, who watched him with big, emerald-eyed curiosity. Her feet were tired from walking up and down the platform so many times, so she'd decided to rest, having concluded that this was as close to 9 3/4 as she was ever going to get.

"Hello," he said, grinning in a way she _really_ didn't like.

As she opened her mouth to respond, he ran at the trolley and pushed her straight towards the pillar she was sitting beside!

The last thing he heard as she emitted a scream was Sirius, gasping for breath with laughter, and his mother's scandalised cry of, "James Henry Potter!"

* * *

"Oof!"

Luggage, cat, boys and girls all crumpled to a heap of the floor.

"_Hey! Watch where you're going!_" snapped a furious voice.

"Are you okay?"

The little girl wearing white earmuffs blinked and turned to meet the eyes of a very tired looking boy. She nodded, then, almost as an afterthought,

"Oh right. Thank you."

Brushing herself off, she stood up and surveyed the situation. Across from her, sprawled on the floor, was a girl she assumed to be her age in a dress that perhaps wasn't as white as it had been, glowering at the fourth and final party of the crisis, a boy who had just replaced his glasses and sported a _very_ cheeky grin that she _really_ didn't like.

"Ow! What did you kick me for?"

"Being horrible," she replied primly.

"_James Henry Potter I demand that you come here at once_!"

He winced. This time, he knew he was in trouble.

"Remus, love! Are you okay? Did you get hurt? That was very brave of you," gushed a lady with a rather gaunt, but otherwise lovely face.

"Mother!" he mumble, struggling out of her grasp, "Please stop!"

A fair distance away, a man cloaked in black robes with silver lining sneered at the hysteria.

"Mind you take care to consort with the appropriate people, Marie. Do not waste your time on nameless fools and blood traitors."

The small blonde doll nodded wordlessly as she followed her father. When she was certain he was no longer watching, she turned and captured the lively image before her, with the hysterical mother, the loving caresses of another, and two girls who had helped one another up and were quietly giggling together. She stared wistfully after them.

"_Marie_!"

Her head snapped around immediately and she looked towards the ground,

"Yes father."

* * *

"So, what's your name?"

"Lily Evans. What's yours?"

"I'm Aiko, nice to meet you!"

She put a hand to her waist, tilted her head, stuck out her tongue, brought a peace sign to her cheek and winked. Lily blinked in surprise for a few moments as she took in the bizarre appearance of the girl posed in front of her, wearing a layered knee-length floral dress with lace, stockings, and a fluffy white jacket. She squealed when the white earmuffs moved.

"What?"

Lily pointed at the white fluffy things that were beginning to wriggle.

"Stop that," she scolded, and they paused as she turned her attention back to Lily, "They're just enchanted, I promise, I didn't stitch hamsters onto my headband or any… You're a muggleborn, aren't you?"

Lily looked at her in confusion.

"What I mean is, your parents aren't magical, are they?"

She shook her head.

"So we have a mudblood in our midst."

This immediately drew the attention of the little crowd that had yet to disperse.

"Don't call her that, Malfoy."

"And what are you going to do about it, _Potter_? Set your little blood-traitor on me?"

At this, both James and Sirius stepped forward, only to be pulled backwards by the collar of their shirts.

"Lucius! How lovely to see you. Please send your father my regards," cooed Sarah.

The iciness etched into her amber eyes did not go unnoticed.

"Yes, Mrs Potter," he replied stiffly, before making a hurried exit to find said parent.

"No fighting. James, apologise to the young ladies right now."

"I don't see any…" he muttered, earning him another glower from both his mother and the two girls before him.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed with a loud sigh, "Happy?"

"Good boy," she responded before drawing him into a tight hug and kissing both him and Sirius on the forehead.

"Mum! Get off me!"

Laughing, she waved and bid them all a lovely school term before vanishing through the assumedly solid brick wall.

* * *

"I… umm… Is… Is it okay if I… umm… could… everywhere else… umm…"

Lily and Aiko turned to each other as the door to their compartment opened and a girl wearing sky blue robes trimmed with white stood in the doorway. Suddenly, Aiko launched herself onto the startled child with bright blonde ringlets.

"You're so cute!" she squealed, hugging the newcomer in delight.

"Aiko, get off her, she's petrified of you. Let her go."

Pouting, she let go.

"I… I… I'm sorry!" she cried and turned to run, when Aiko grabbed her and dragged her inside.

Sighing, Lily put down the book she was reading and held out her hand with a smile.

"Hello. I'm Lily Evans. This is Aiko. What's your name?"

"Cherie," she replied quietly.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Cherie Maryanne Deverux," she replied louder, knowing now that she was going to be hated turned away for certain.

"Cherie! That's a beautiful name," Lily replied truthfully with a smile.

Aiko nodded fervently in agreement, grinning.

She was stunned. They didn't… despise her? Her family name? They weren't from pureblood families. At least, not the ones on _his_ side…

"So, Aiko, explain this whole pureblood, muggle-born thing to me again?"

Cherie, or Marie, as her father called her, gasped in despair.

"You're a muggle-born?"

"Is that a problem?" asked Aiko, shifting her glance and directing a piercing gaze towards Cherie.

Father would not be happy. But they seemed so… nice. Maybe… just maybe… father wouldn't mind? Or, at least, maybe he didn't have to know. Struggling to smile, she shook her head, and her curls bounced freely about her shoulders. Aiko gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Now, purebloods, like Cherie here, are those whose entire family lineage…"

* * *

The three boys stood staring at each other, all burning with embarrassment from the displays of affection that their parents still didn't seem to understand that they were too old for.

"… So. Who're you?" asked Sirius.

"Remus Lupin."

"I'm James Potter, this is Sirius Black," replied James, indicating to his friend, who responded with a mock salute.

Remus raised an eyebrow and James rolled his eyes.

"Right. Let's go get a carriage!" announced James, spinning around and marching forth, to promptly find himself back on the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" squeaked a brown-haired boy with a slightly chubby frame as he returned James' glasses to him.

"No problem," he responded, getting up, only to see the leering expressions of Malfoy, backed with Rodolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier.

"Get lost, Malfoy," spat Sirius, glowering.

"Ooh, we're _scared_, Black," responded Lestrange with a dark grin.

Malfoy eyed the Gryffindor prefects that were walking towards them. Throwing his head back in laughter, confusing his lackeys in turn, he turned around and sauntered off.

"Enjoy your day, _blood traitor_."

Sighing, the newest addition to their group slumped back onto the floor in relief.

"What's your name?"

"Peter."

"Are you coming? We're off to find a train compartment."

Smiling gratefully at the offer, he allowed Remus to pull him back into a standing position and they set off, with James and Sirius at a running pace, pushing each other out of the way in an attempt to find an empty carriage first.

"This'll be interesting," remarked Remus absently, exchanging an amused grin with Peter.

* * *

"… Is it true? Is it possible?"

"I do not know, Minerva, only time will tell."

"But surely _he_ must realise that it would be almost impossible to find someone to fit the criteria, even if he were able to summon such ability. Why, it is absurd! Someone who possesses a killing intent, _and_ innocence? Hemust see this!"

"I believe there is nothing anyone may consider impossible anymore."

Sighing, he paused in front of the entrance to the great hall, clasped hands untwining themselves to push his glasses into place.

"Albus really, this poses no threat to anyone, does it? He has his Death eaters, his… unspeakable curses. He would not think to use an innocent, would he? He has no need! Already his power is growing – He attacked the eastern continents, knowing they would not be prepared, but we… We have the Ministry, the Aurors. Albus, we have _you_! Surely there is no cause for alarm yet."

Removing his spectacles, he cleaned them tiredly on his sleeve.

"I quite simply do not know."

Replacing his glasses, they turned to greet the other members of their staff. There was no cause to alarm them yet. Perhaps there never will. Once they were assembled, he pushed forth the doors and entered with a twinkle in his eye as he watched the first years pushing each other, all eager to catch a glimpse of their new home for the next seven years of their lives.

* * *

"Black, Sirius."

A hiss came from the Slytherin table. He ignored it and instead exchanged glances with James, who nodded with certainty. They grinned at each other.

_Hmm… From one of the greatest pureblood families in existence, are we?_

**Don't say that**, he hissed, **I'm not one of them**.

_Touchy, aren't we? You have the cunning of a Slytherin, __**Black**__…_

**I am **_**not **_**like them! You know it, I know it. Now put me in the damn house that I know I deserve to be in!**

Sirius tried to shoot it a withering look as it heard a rumble of laughter echo through his head.

"Gryffindor!"

* * *

"Deverux, Cherie Maryanne."

Breathe. Just breathe. It wasn't until Lily patted her shoulder and pried her hands off her arm that she realised she hadn't responded yet. Aiko gave her a push and she stumbled towards the stairs.

"Don't stress, we'll be with you soon!" she exclaimed cheerfully, giving her friend a thumbs up.

_And what is it that you want?_

**I… I don't know…**

_To please your father, perhaps? Or do you want to break free and make your own decisions? About your life, about your future, about your friends?_

**I… I would never… Couldn't… He's… I can't…**

_There is no such thing as 'can't'. You have the strength to do anything. But that is for you to discover._

"Gryffindor!"

* * *

"Evans, Lily Elizabeth."

"Good luck!"

Lily choked.

"Aiko… You're… suffocating me!"

"Sorry," her friend replied sheepishly, as Lily shot her a look of mock disapproval.

_Who are you?_

**What do you mean?**

_You have a clouded memory… Something you have hidden in your unconscious, perhaps?_

**What do you mean?**

_Something you were too young to understand… too young to face… Will you have the bravery to overcome your memories, do you think?_

**I don't…**

_Your intelligence and your heart will guide you when the time comes and all is revealed to you once again._

**But…**

"Gryffindor!"

* * *

"Jiang…"

"Um, excuse me, if you don't mind, the name is Aiko," she intercepted quickly

"Oh?"

Professor McGonagall stared intensely at the girl who had interrupted her, then glanced at Professor Dumbledore, who nodded his consent, bemused. Her lips curled in displeasure, but did not question him.

"Jiang, Aiko."

She sat and waited patiently for the hat to be placed on her head, swinging her legs and humming to herself seemingly without a care in the world.

"_Earmuffs_, Miss Jiang."

"Oh right, sorry. Off you go then."

The two balls of fluff squirmed a little then jumped obediently into her lap, causing squeals of, "Oh my gosh, how cute!" to erupt from the older girls. She grinned and sent a wink at Lily and Cherie, who rolled her eyes and gasped at her courage respectively.

_Hmm… You have a secret. A very dark secret._

**If I do, clearly I don't need **_**you**_** to tell me**, she retorted defensively.

_What will you do about it if it were ever to become known?_

**That doesn't concern **_**you**_**. It doesn't change who I am!**

The hat chuckled at her audacity.

_You are courageous and loyal. You want people to believe you to be clueless, but you are much more than what you seem. Very well then…_

"Gryffindor!"

An eruption of cheers came from the table that she skipped towards cheerfully, joining her friends.

* * *

"Lupin, Remus."

_Oh my, you are a dark character, now, aren't you?_

**That's not funny.**

_Really now? Insecure, are you? What will happen if everyone finds out who you are, _what_ you are? What will become of you, do you think?_

**That's none of your concern and beyond me to change**, he snapped in response.

_Oh, sensitive I see. But also very determined, very brave, very rational. How ironic, when compared to your other…_

**Are you going to do your job or not?**

He heard the hat laugh softly in his mind.

_Very well._

"Gryffindor!"

* * *

"Pettigrew, Peter."

James pounded him on the back enthusiastically, bidding him good luck and grinning as his friend spluttered at the excessive force.

_Ahh… You are an interesting one._

**I am?**

_Yes… You have a great sense of loyalty, and the courage to carry out whatever you deem necessary for the person you care about most._

… **I do?**

_But this also means you will do anything that you think is right, anything that you think will help the person you think cares for you the most… Be careful who you trust. Sometimes the one you love is not always the one who loves you back._

**What's that supposed to mean?**

"Gryffindor!"

* * *

"Potter, James."

Running up the stairs two at a time, he sat, grinning eagerly, without any fear or uncertainty, grinning with a fastidious sense of self that Lily couldn't help but snort at.

"Arrogant prick," she muttered to herself, causing Cherie beside her to giggle quietly.

"Gryffindor!"

"That was awesome! It didn't even reach your head!"

James shrugged and high fived his best friend. Catching Lily staring at him, he winked cheekily, causing her face to grow red as she turned away.

* * *

"Hmm…"

"What are you thinking, Albus? I don't like the look of that sparkle in your eye."

He chuckled, watching Gryffindor's latest recruits in amusement.

"_Oh, sorry! That was an accident, I promise!" insisted James half heartedly with a grin._

_Lily slammed her hand against the tabletop and stood up as Cherie vainly attempted to clean the blue powder that had magically appeared and covered Lily from head to toe. Aiko stood as well, glowering. Sirius and Peter were delirious with laughter and even Remus struggled to resist. Until, of course, he noticed the look that Lily sent his way._

"_Potter, this means war!"_

Minerva watched this with alarm and stood, but Albus motioned for her to sit down.

"Come, Minerva, we have seen much worse than this. Children will be children. They haven't disturbed anyone yet."

Rolling her eyes at his logic, she sat down, discontent, but couldn't suppress a smile as she watched Lily Evans "accidentally" spill orange juice over James' head without successfully taming it in any way, shape or form. Well, it was also a prefect duty to uphold peace amongst the student body. The professors could hardly be expected to observe _every_ little misdemeanour.

* * *

Oh look! I started writing Fanfiction again. My friends shall have my head for this, I'm afraid. Oh dear! I rather liked having it where it was. Well, nevermind. Please feel free to criticise as much as you like, though I do hope you enjoyed it! It is rather tedious and long, I know, but please try to bear with it. I'll get the plot moving along soon enough…

Winteresque.


	2. Chapter 2

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter two

"Kindly crawl away and _die_," she hissed, swiftly turning on her heel and storming off.

Now, surprisingly, this was _not_ addressed to James Potter. Or even a Slytherin. No, it was addressed to Felicity Lucas whom, her dorm members were rather loathed to admit, was a Gryffindor in their year. How, this was possible, it was entirely unbeknownst to her roommates, who didn't see her in her room more often than they did, now that they had successfully reached forth year without killing anyone. Needless to say, they chose not to ask questions.

"Aww, little miss bookworm got her panties in a twist because she doesn't have a date for the Yule ball?" she called out after her triumphantly.

"Not everyone is vying for a date, Felicity. In fact, not everyone necessarily wants to attend."

Felicity eyed the girl sitting on the window ledge in disdain. She wore her long black hair in two pigtails, tied with large white fluffy die and what seemed to be thin metal bangles on her arm.

"Aww, you too Aiko? There there. You can hardly blame boys for staying away though. You dress like a five year old!"

Her fourth year lackeys shrieked in delight, but stopped when Aiko glared them down. She had been infamous for her temper ever since third year when she broke Rosier's nose for calling Lily a… Needless to say, she'd gotten a month's worth of detentions and lifelong respect from the Marauders. Not that it had made them any less bearable, but at least they were no longer pulling pranks on them.

"When I want to be mistaken for a whore, I'll give you a call, Felicity," she sighed, putting down her essay for Herbology. Where was Cherie when you needed her?

In moments, she found herself pushed into a wall and stared up with a scowl. Felicity was, arguably, the best looking girl in the grade. A part time model for _Witch Weekly_, she self-pronounced herself as the most popular girl in school and, if the Marauders were anything to judge by, a decent looking body and enough confidence to boast about it was all you needed to become instantaneously popular.

"Don't break a nail, Felicity," she growled menacingly.

Felicity, being 5 foot 7, was not at all worried, being approximately 5 inches taller than the girl she had currently pinned to the wall. She did, however, glance quickly at the metallic pink nails that she had meticulously manicured just the other day to make sure they were still in tact. Her long dark blonde hair had been thrown "casually" into a bun to make it look as though it were natural and unconscious. As Cherie once discovered when she passed a little too closely, there was enough hairspray in it to make it harder than diamond. It had left deep gashes on her forearm, and the blood stains had quite simply slid off the blonde thorns.

"Felicity," sang a voice to her left, "I think someone mentioned that the Marauders were coming down this way soon. You've been so busy holding yourself out for them; maybe this really isn't the time to be expressing your aggressive side, hmm? They might not appreciate it as much as your feministic beauty."

She looked up, momentarily releasing her victim who slipped way with surprising alacrity and linked hands with Cherie as they waltz down the hallway together.

"Very well done, Cherie sweetie, I do believe you've done me proud."

"Thank you," replied the blonde with strawberry pink streaks through her hair and they giggled together as they waited for Felicity dearest to reach the end of the corridor, where Peeves was busy throwing small packets of yogurt at poor unsuspecting victims.

"I wonder who gave him the idea, though. Of course, he's a poltergeist. He could hardly have made the yogurt and put them into balloons himself, don't you think? I wonder who did it."

Aiko shrugged, grinning.

"Who cares? The Marauders will get the blame for it anyway."

Predictably, Cherie pulled her to a stop.

"You didn't."

"Who says I did?"

"Did I tell you that it got Regulus Black right in the face? He was put to detention for yelling obscenities in the hall."

"Good. Then Lily will forgive me if she ever finds out."

"Finds out about what?" came an all too familiar voice, tapping her foot, crossed arms, eyebrow arched.

"Hi Lily…"

"Aiko, my love, did you have _anything_ to do with Peeves today by any chance?"

"I'm sorry I love you please forgive me?"

Lily stared very hard at her friend who sweated under the mental interrogation.

"What kind of yogurt _is_ it exactly? When Potter tried to get it out of his hair, his hands got stuck instead! You _have_ to let me in on the next one, okay?" she demanded, slipping an arm through each of her best friends' and cheerfully dragging them along to Charms.

"Aiko… I think you're rubbing off on her," remarked Cherie.

"Nope. She was always this devious. She just wouldn't admit to it before," she replied, grinning as Lily's eyes went wide.

"_Come back here, Aiko Jiang! Just you wait!_"

"_Not a chance!_" she retorted as the red head chased after her, causing many a student to jump out of the way.

* * *

"But it wasn't us, Professor! Why would we attack ourselves?!" exclaimed an indignant Sirius, who had, for the past hour, had his hand glued to a position he would really rather not have it in. Not in public, at any rate. The ladies didn't seem to appreciate it.

Professor McGonagall shot withering glowers at them all. Not that Peter noticed. His hands had been permanently stuck over his eyes.

"When I find whoever _did_ do it, I'll…"

"Professor, it wasn't us. Not this time, at any rate. We swear," intercepted Remus wisely, cutting off James' resentful growling. He alone had escaped unharmed.

Sighing, she leaned back on her desk, rubbing her forehead tiredly.

"Fine. You may leave now."

"Uh… Professor?"

"What?" she snapped. She was not in the mood. Albus had recently mentioned the ancient ritual again. It was not going to happen. It would not happen. It _could_ not happen. It was impossible.

"Could you maybe… uh… Unstickify us first?" asked Sirius, almost sheepishly.

Mentally rolling her eyes, she flicked her wand and the boys sighed in relief, bidding her leave before running back to their dorms to be the first into the shower. The professor hadn't been entirely nice enough to remove the yogurt.

* * *

"Mew? Late for quidditch, Potter, Black, that's singular," purred Aiko, sitting, or rather, _lying_ on top of her broomstick.

"Shut up," he snapped, glowering at her.

Of all the people he had ever met, she was the only one who flew a broomstick with such signature style. Her legs intertwined the broomstick and she lay on it, providing her with maximum streamline ability and, factoring in her weight and lithe body, was the perfect candidate for a seeker.

Sirius, on the other hand, was destined to be a bludger. It was Sirius. There need be no other explanation.

"Drills, now!" barked Richard Spinnet, and he watched his team kick off into the air with a satisfactory smile that he would never let them see.

Lily sat alongside Cherie in the stands, doing their homework and watching the training simultaneously. Or at least, pretended to do so. Huffing, she blew away the coils of red hair that dangled into her face.

"Cherie?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think, not that we'd want to of course, but maybe… Do you think, if we tried, not that we would, but just if…"

"Spit it out, Lily."

"Do you think we'd be able to get a date for the Yule ball?"

Cherie fell into silent contemplation. She knew she never would – she was too plain. Nobody noticed her. Her friends… They were beautiful, they were noticed. Everyone knew them. Then again, Aiko was known for her seemingly bipolar disordered personality and Lily for her temper and prudish bookworm attitude. Boys asked girls like Felicity out, not people like them. Of course, Aiko was called cute sometimes, and Lily was very petite-feminine most of the time.

"Umm… Sure, why not? It's not like we're diseases or anything," she mumbled in response, "… right?"

"Of course," responded Lily quickly, suddenly realising what she was doing to Cherie's self esteem, "Especially you, Cherie, with your pretty long blonde hair and delicate feminine wiles," she teased gently.

Cherie blushed furiously.

"What feminine wiles? Don't be silly, Lily…"

"Oh? I remember a certain _someone_ in third year attracting the attention of a particular _fifth year student_ called _Thoma_…"

"Shush you! You're the one who started this by asking about dates to the Yule ball!" replied Cherie, fervently placing her hands over her cheeks to reduce the redness that stood out clearly against her pearl white skin. _Why_ couldn't she be just a little tan, like Lily?

"What's this I hear about dates to the Yule ball? Or should I say, lack thereof?"

"Get back to training, _Potter_," she spat, glowering at him.

He placed a hand against his heart and dramatically acted as if to faint from despair. Cherie giggled, but stifled it when she saw Lily begin to go white with anger. Oh dear. This was never a good sign.

"I'm hurt, Lily flower, truly. I was only asking out of concern for your welfare."

"My welfare is not of your concern, Potter," she replied dryly, "In fact, you're usually the main reason _behind_ concern for my welfare."

"I'm cut that you think so, Lily flower" – "Stop calling me that!" – "But! I being the _ever_ so _gallant_ gentleman myself, am entirely willing to make it up to you by honouring you by allowing you to be my date at the Yule ball!" he announced courageously.

Time seemed to freeze. There were a lot of things that could've happened in that moment, that didn't. In fact, there were a lot of things that a rational Lily would normally have done, but didn't think of. This was because the red head temper had resurfaced, demonstrating just how much _more_ bipolar than even her friend, could be.

Within moments, she had launched herself at James Potter. One should now be gently reminded that James Potter was riding a broom. Lily Evans, having been originally seated in the stand, which was an _extremely_ long way up, had launched herself at what was essentially, a boy on a broomstick.

"Li – Are you crazy?!"

James was currently hanging upside down trying _very_ hard not to fall off entirely. Lily, on the other hand, was renowned for being incredibly terrible at flying a broomstick. Rather, she became paralysed the moment her feet left the floor. So perhaps being kilometres above the ground wasn't precisely the place to find a perfectly rational, calm, Lily Evans.

A scream echoed across the grounds and everyone turned to see a hysterical Cherie, pointing frantically downwards.

"Oh shi… What the – Lily!"

Aiko dived.

A flash of genius passed his mind and in an instant, James had mimicked Aiko's style, throwing his legs up onto the broomstick, intertwining them near the end of it and attempting to lean as much of his body weight into it to reduce the dive angle and, hopefully, save them from some skull splitting. Unfortunately, the petrified Lily was unable to comprehend her surroundings and had begun to slip.

"What in Merlin's – Lily!"

He let go of the broomstick with one hand and caught her. Just. Now, a forth year boy who spends most of his time playing pranks does not nearly have enough time to lift weights and make himself at all particularly strong. In fact, he was liked _for_ the lankiness of his body, the messiness of his hair. Point being, he was not about to be able to support Lily, keep hold of the broom, and control it so that they would not have to die at the tender age of fourteen. So he made a choice.

"If I die, you better appreciate this," he muttered to the consciously – unconscious girl he was currently carrying. Had it not been for the fact that they could _die_ perhaps he might have savoured this moment.

Pushing Lily upright back onto the broom, he let go, allowing himself to dangle at the end of the broom just enough for it to reach an angle of stability, closed his eyes, and untangled his legs.

"Ack!"

James felt his arm being practically wrenched out of its socket and looked up to see the grinning face of Spinnet.

"Thanks, Captain."

"No problem."

He let go of his underling a metre short and watched with satisfaction as he handed with a thud and loud exclamations.

"You should know better than to upset women, Potter. I want you back in the air the moment Jiang returns your broom!"

An annoyed sigh of frustration came from up above.

"It's _Aiko_, captain! Ai-ko!"

He didn't respond, choosing instead to ruffle her hair as they passed one another.

"Ack! _Captain_!" she growled.

"I want you both in the air in five! Move!" he barked.

Rolling her eyes, she manoeuvred Lily (on James' broomstick) down beside James on the quadrangle.

Feeling the floor beneath her again, Lily began to breathe again, but at incredible rapidity.

"Err… Is she hyperventilating?" asked James uncertainly.

"No, she's just being Lily," replied Cherie, having finally reached them.

The two girls kneeled beside their friend, Cherie watching the blood slowly come back into Lily's cheeks while Aiko checked her pulse as it finally began to slow down.

When Aiko finally indicated that Lily's breathing had evened out, Cherie placed a hand on either shoulder, looked into Lily's steadily unclouded gaze, and shook her violently.

"_Don't you ever do that ever again, do you understand?_"

Lily might possibly have nodded, but due to the other oscillations forcibly being taken place, it was difficult to discern. It was Cherie's turn to breathe heavily as she eventually let her friend go. Then she noticed all attention had been directed towards her and she blushed profusely, ducking her head as she pulled Lily up.

"Come on, we have to go study," she mumbled.

Sirius flew down to greet James.

"You alright, Prongs?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Awesome bit of broom work though," he remarked, grinning as James threw him a glare. If looks could kill…

* * *

"Why hasn't she stopped laughing yet? It's not like we cast _rictusempra_ on her or anything," grumbled Lily, watching Aiko roll on around on the floor in tears, "It's not _that_ funny!"

"It's _hilarious_!" she gasped between breaths, "You attacked him for asking you to be his date!"

"Actually, he _told_ Lily that he was going to be _gallant_ enough to allow her to be his date," mused Cherie thoughtfully, always being one for technicalities.

And this was how Alice, the fifth and final member of their dorm, found them upon entering the room. Aiko rolling on the floor laughing, Cherie deep in thought about absolutely nothing, and Lily burning holes in the carpet with her glower. Wisely, she decided to slowly back out of the room and close the door behind her. Changing into her pyjamas could wait.

"We still have to do something for the Yule ball though," mused Cherie, "I would actually rather like to attend."

Aiko stopped rolling and bent backwards to stare up at Cherie incredulously,

"You would?"

Cherie blushed feverishly and buried her head in her pillow, mumbling,

"Forget I said it."

"Well no, we could go. It'd be fun," encouraged Lily, suppressing the rage that hadn't quite died down as of yet, despite the day's entertainment.

"But we don't have dates."

Aiko pounced, jumping onto Cherie's bed excitedly.

"So what? We could go stag!"

"But that would be embarrassing!" came the protest.

"Who says?" countered Lily.

"Yeah! We could totally dress up for it too!"

"Well, clearly, it _is_ a ba…"

"_No_! As in _really_ dress up for it!"

"What, you mean like in costume?"

"Totally!"

Lily stared at her friend doubtfully. If it was up to Aiko, they'd all end up attending the ball covered in pink ruffles and big white bows.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked wearily.

"I don't know… Something… Entirely out there! Something to show everyone that we don't care, that we don't need to conform, that we're rebels in our own right…"

"But within the confines of school rules," added Lily quickly with a warning look.

Aiko sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Ah, zhi dao le!" (_I know!_)

Lily rolled her eyes in turn, knowing perfectly well what she meant quite simply because she had used the phrase so many times in the past four years.

"Amazons," piqued Cherie with a hopeful smile.

"Perfect!"

Cherie's expression slumped, crestfallen.

"But what do we do for costumes? The invitation says that it's strictly robes, suits or dresses."

"I know! Why don't we just find dresses to _suggest_ an Amazonian theme? Then we wouldn't have to bare as much skin anyway, which is preferable."

"Oof!"

Aiko, having jumped onto Lily, was now hugging her tightly, and had decided to wrap a startled Cherie into her embrace as well.

"I love being best friends with geniuses!"

"Technically, I think it could also be genii…"

Aiko drew back at looked at Cherie mock-seriously.

"Don't push it," she warned.

With another bout of eye-rolling and exchanging amused glances, Lily did the absolute necessity after a comment like that. She picked up a pillow and aimed it smack bang directly at her face.

"Ooh no you didn't."

"Ooh yes I did," she retorted, grinning.

"That's it!"

"Ouch! I'm innocent! I didn't do anything!"

"You didn't help, either!"

In the corner, three cats purred and batted at the loose feathers that were now floating around the dorm, not at all disarmed by the antics of their owners. It had, after all, been almost four years.

The upload wouldn't work for me! And then I forgot about this... Oops?


	3. Chapter 3

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter three

Theoretically, it is impossible to produce the fairytale event where one person's entrance entirely enchants the rest of the room into a stunned quietude. Unless, of course, you make an incredibly rowdy entrance that will allow you to be kicked out promptly (like the sixth year students who felt inclined to absorb as much Firewhiskey as their body could handle – and possibly even more than that – prior to the Yule ball, as occurred three years previously) or enter incredibly late and miss half the dance (which happened to one of last year's fifth year couples, who had lost track of time in the broom cupboard). Here's the final alternative, as narrated from a few days prior to the event.

"So what do we do with our hair?"

"Forget that, what do we do with our _dresses_?"

"Professor Dumbledore just announced that we could have a trip to Hogsmead this weekend. We could get something then…" supplied Cherie.

"Too boring."

"Madam Malkin's being asked to come in – she knows that everybody needs new robes for the ball," pointed out Lily, stretched on her bed.

"Even more boring!"

"So what do you suggest?" she snapped, passing an annoyed glance at her friend.

Aiko smiled and they immediately detected danger.

"We make our own.

* * *

"So Lily! When do I pick you up?" asked a grinning James Potter as they walked out of Transfiguration.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

"What?"

"You know? The Yule ball? What time do you want me to meet you?"

"I'm sorry, I seem to have entirely overlooked any moment in my life when I agreed to go with _you_ to the Yule ball! Besides, I already know who I'm going with," she added smugly.

He frowned. Since when? One would imagine that someone crazy enough to ask out Lily Evans would've made its way around the gossip network by now.

"But I was first!" he protested, "You were still dateless when I asked you!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. Why was he pushing this?

"I don't seem to recall."

"Maybe you _did_ hit your head when you fell!" he snapped.

"And what's that to _you_, Potter?" she retorted, voices rising.

"If _you_ hadn't _launched_ yourself at me…"

"If _you_ hadn't made such a _stupid_ remark…"

"Oh please, I gave you the excuse you always wanted to _touch_ me!"

"Oh please, you are _so_ caught up in your own ego that you can't even register the fact that not _everyone_ in the world is going to fawn and flatter you!" she snarled in return.

"You… I… I am _not_!" he fumed at her retreating back.

* * *

Aiko slumped into a chair at their usual table, out of the reach of Madame Pince, the dreaded dragon lady of the paperback castle otherwise known as a library.

"Okay, the word is out. Lily officially has a date to the ball and no one can figure out who on earth he might be."

"Lily has a date?"

Cherie blinked at her friend.

"I said I knew who I was going with, I didn't say I had a date," corrected Lily with an air of manipulative innocence.

"And I'm the one bent on technicalities, you say?" retorted Cherie, eyebrow raised.

"So ladies, what have we found?"

"Do we all have a dress that we can spare?"

Affirmative nods all round.

"Good. Then if we use this spell, we can lengthen it, and another to cut the skirt type we want and sew layers onto it…"

"I don't know how to sew," admitted a mildly distressed Cherie.

"That's okay, I don't think it's possible to sew on an outer layer of a skirt onto the inner one by hand anyway. I was planning to use this spell for that, too."

"How about colour?" asked Aiko curiously.

"Blues, greens and browns?"

"Sounds good, but how do we do it?"

Lily smiled at this.

"We do it the muggle way. Tie dyeing. Of course, if there's any dye left, well… We won't know what happened to it."

* * *

"You weren't _actually_ expecting to take her to the ball, were you?" asked Remus, eyebrow raised questioningly.

James flushed and left his bed to pull the bed covers off Sirius, mumbling,

"Obviously not! I just… As if I would go with someone like her…"

"What?" came a sleepy mumbling, "I haven't slept enough yet…"

James frowned.

"Padfoot, get up or we'll be late for class."

Muffled sounds erupted from the pillow – then silence. Remus put a hand on James' shoulder.

"Prongs my friend, you're going about this the wrong way. Watch. Padfoot, I believe breakfast started, oh I don't know, maybe _ten_ minutes ago?"

Within half a minute he had raced into the communal bathroom, out again, and through the door.

That was when disaster struck.

Peter, nearest to the open door peeked out to see a very dazed, very crumpled, very blue Sirius.

Very incredibly blue.

And promptly exploded into a laughing fit.

"What's so… Oh man."

Remus and James leaned in the doorway and looked away, doing their best, and failing miserably, not to laugh at their friend. A metal bucket at the foot of the stairs rolled gently to a stop, leaving a trail of blue dye in its wake.

"_Who the hell did this? They are dead!_"

When the Marauders did finally reach the breakfast table, Sirius' expression told them not to even _think_ about making a remark in any way, shape or form. But it did nothing to stop the muffled giggling.

Professor Dumbledore exchanged a knowing glance with Professor McGonagall and a very amused shadow of a smile. Anything more would have been deemed very inappropriate for the situation indeed. But then, they felt no inclination to mention that they had walked by three particular forth year girls busy drying their newly coloured clothing. Professor McGonagall reasoned to herself that it would only cause more commotion, not less, after all.

* * *

Hogsmeade found itself swarming with students, as all the female students frantically began congregating around Madame Malkin.

Felicity snorted at the display, flicking her hair.

"Now really, that's just an utterly unsophisticated example of the lack of femininity that flows through the veins of the _girls_ at this school," she sniffed disdainfully.

Ciara O' Shea nodded in silent agreement, looking on with a bored expression etched across her delicate features. She was analysing her dead set straight hair for split ends and was in no mood to pay tribute to the lacking intellect of her 'friend'. The Ravenclaw was amazed that anyone with as little brains as the girl before her could possibly exist, but there was no need to voice that out. They were forth years and already attracting attention. If they stayed in the same group for the rest of their schooling life, they would definitely dominate the social ladder soon enough.

She slid her gaze towards a third year Hufflepuff girl and narrowed icy grey eyes.

"Vanish," she hissed, and the girl took off.

"I'm glad to see you in such a cheerful mood, Ciara," murmured the brunette beside her, swinging long legs clad only in shorts as she sat on a fence, savouring her lollypop.

"Not your concern, Amber."

The fourth year Hufflepuff gave an indulgently teasing smile, but said nothing, watching in amusement as Madame Malkin became buried under the earnest insistence of a multitude of desperate teenage girls.

"Aren't you cold?" inquired Dawn, their little third year companion, in absolute wonder.

"Nope. Look, I have a date with my boy. I'll see you guys later."

With that, the Hufflepuff chaser threw the remnants of her lollypop into a conveniently placed bin and sauntered across to Madame Puddifoot's tea shop, where she was greeted… passionately, by a Gryffindor sixth year. Felicity rolled her eyes.

"She is _such_ a blonde."

Ciara did not feel the least inclined to respond.

* * *

"Ready?"

"Hang on!" muttered Remus, applying the last of the spells, "Okay, there. Done!"

"Okay. Ready? One… Two… Three!"

And they scampered in the other direction as small black crystal balls began bobbing gently along through the air and into the Great Hall.

"Oof!"

Lily glowered at the boy sprawled cross from her then, noticing that he couldn't see her glare without his glasses on anyway, sighed and handed them to him.

"Thanks," he mumbled, adjusting them.

As she pulled him into an upright position, he stared down at her hands.

"Are those…?"

Glancing down, she saw the blue and green stains that were still visible against the paleness of her hands.

"Um, I have to get to breakfast," she mumbled, and hurried off.

Lily Evans? Pulling pranks? On the _Marauders_? They were _gone_!

* * *

"What are these things?"

Aiko was staring very transfixed by the black bauble that was floating about her head with the words "_Do not touch_!" written across them. Cherie had fastened her hands behind her back to resist the temptation. Lily glanced up, noted the sign, and went back to eating breakfast.

"Don't touch it, Aiko," she warned.

Suddenly, a shriek came across from the other end of the room, and Slytherin girl dashed out of the hall, hands covering her face.

"What the…"

Suddenly, a peal of laughter emanated from the Ravenclaw table, and everyone turned to see the commotion, when yet another cry came from the Hufflepuff table and a second year started crying.

"Nyaa!"

"What the… Aiko! I _told_ you not to touch it!" scolded Lily.

Gasping, Cherie reached for her scarf as she watched her friend blink in shock. Aiko's face now resembled very much the cat that she often imitated. She flung it over Aiko's hair and face before taking her at a running speed towards Madame Pomfrey's, Lily in tow as Felicity's metallic peals of maniacal laughter chorused throughout the hall.

* * *

By the end of breakfast, there was a very long line of about twenty students sitting in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, each sporting whiskers and a new pair of ears. Some resembled rabbits, others hamsters, there was even a hippogriff or two thrown into the mix.

"Well, whoever it was knows their magic very well," commented Aiko dryly to her captain.

"At least you didn't get turned into a panda," he offered, glancing at one rather unfortunately puffy-looking Hufflepuff third year.

"Funny."

Spinnet himself still looked very much the same handsome Quidditch captain as he ever did, despite the dog ears and whiskers that embraced his facial features.

"Cheer up, I think you look very cute as a cat," he offered, and Aiko responded by rubbing against his arm and purring contentedly.

Had it been anyone else, they might've jumped, but Spinnet, looking down at the girl next to him, had practically taken care of Aiko throughout her entire Hogwarts life as the big brother she never had. She, on the other hand, took the place of the little sister he loved and missed whenever he was at school and she was attending Beaubaxtons Academy of Magic. Sighing at the thought, he ruffled her hair, producing a distinctly cat-like growl to be emitted from the furry creature beside him.

"Ah hah!"

Three hours on, James flung open the curtains and revealed the pair in all their fluffy cuteness. Still lying sleepily against her captain's shoulder, she stared blearily at the figures before her. The two boys, one with long black hair and the other with his distinctly messy style, were easy enough to decipher. Beside them stood a slightly short and fairly skinny boy with mousy brown hair and a face you might call unconventionally cute – in a nerdy kind of way. Then beside that…

"Oh, hello Remus."

She directed a lazy smile towards the lanky grey-eyed boy and, yawning, closed her eyes. She didn't notice him stare at her newly whiskered and exceedingly adorable face in wonder, didn't feel his heart skip a beat and stop altogether when Spinnet hoisted her and placed her on the ground, causing her to lash out in annoyance. Spinnet, being _much_ taller than the midget before him merely laughed and watched her antics, bemused.

"What did you boys want?"

"Team wants to know if training's still on this afternoon, Captain."

Spinnet raised an eyebrow at James and Sirius. What kind of a question was that?

"Right. Um… We'll begin drills until you return," returned his chaser hastily and walked out of the hospital wing, the others in quick succession.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Dropping me!" declared Aiko, stomping on his foot another time, just for good measure.

"Ow!"

Aiko may have been too busy glowering to notice, but Spinnet hadn't. He smiled as he saw Remus quickly turn around and hasten after his companions. He looked at his makeshift little sister with a true brotherly fondness and ruffled her hair.

"You're going to be very well taken care of when I leave."

She stopped glowering.

"Huh?"

* * *

"Project destroy misfits begins now," announced Sirius with a menacing grin.

Peter watched his friends with an admiration mixed with uncertainty. He didn't doubt the genius of his friends, but… Lily _was_ the smartest witch in their grade, Aiko _was_ the most violent, and Cherie was _definitely_ the uncontested queen of guile. Glancing at Remus, it was evident this had also occurred to him, but he shrugged and grinned to reassure Peter that there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Monster book of monsters?"

"Check."

A loud banging sounded from within the trunk that Sirius had seated himself upon, as if to confirm this.

"Instant glamour dust?"

"Check."

"A copy of McGonagall's handwriting?"

"Check," responded Peter, holding up their latest detention notification.

James looked up from his list and grinned devilishly.

"Let the pranking begin."

* * *

"Who's listening to Professor Binns first this time round?"

Lily was greeted with two groans.

"Well? Whose turn is it? Come on, we only have five minutes until class…"

They stopped and stared down at a little first year Gryffindor boy who was holding a very large parcel in his hands.

"Uh… um… Pro… Professor McGonagall asked me to give this to you."

The girls glanced at each other. Now why would she do something like that? Smiling, Lily kneeled towards the boy and lifted the package from his grasp.

"Thank you."

Stuttering an incoherent reply, the boy took off back in the direction that he'd come from. Aiko raised an eyebrow.

"Are we that scary?"

The corners of Cherie's mouth curled upwards, threatening to split into a broad grin.

"It might just be you."

She ducked the expected swatting of her arm.

* * *

"… The ancient magic was lost during the Great War, which lasted for over two centuries, as the noble families became fearful of the power their brethren held and determined that it would be too dangerous for them to continue allowing other people obtain the old magic that each House hoarded, and so…"

_Lily! It is so totally your turn! I am _sick_ of his voice!_

**Aiko! Don't insult him! He's doing his very best.**

… It certainly doesn't seem like it…

**Well, clearly when you've been dead for as long as Professor Binns has, perhaps you begin to forget how to live a little…**

Aiko snorted, but didn't partake in the note-passing any further, bracing herself for a few more damaging minutes of their History of Magic professor.

What do you think that parcel is about, Lily?

Lily frowned, pausing in her Charms work midway.

**I don't know what to make of it.**

Do you think it's really from the professor?

Contemplating this, she took out the essay that Professor McGonagall had recently marked for her and compared the handwriting.

**Seems like a match to me.**

Maybe someone forged it?

**Who would bother? People think we're a little strange, but nobody hates us; or at least, none who'd be smart enough to come up with anything more complex than calling people mudbloods and blood traitors, at any rate.**

About that… Malfoy cornered me the other day…

Lily frowned.

**What did **he** want?**

The Yule Ball… I told him that I had prior engagements…

**And?**

He said my father would not be pleased…

At this, Lily examined Cherie closely, trying to gauge her friend's emotions when recalling this moment, but she seemed to go through a complexity of emotions. She was flurried. Nervous, but also embarrassed, and perhaps even a little bit excited.

**Then what?**

I… Don't know… He looked like he was reaching for his wand, but then… But then Sirius showed up and… and Malfoy just left.

Her cheeks grew crimson as she recalled Sirius defending her… Standing up against Malfoy… Pulling her away from them… Saving her…

_Lily if you do not take over right now I am going to pour black ink down your robes!_

Lily rolled her eyes and motioned an affirmative to Aiko, who was finally free to lean back and sigh as she embraced the freedom of daydreaming in class, noting that Cherie had already done the same.

"With a smile like that, she must be dreaming of Prince Charming," mumbled Aiko to herself, watching her friend from the corner of her eye.

* * *

"Okay, you ready for this?"

The girls were seated beside the lake, their homework finally completed, thrown into a messy corner beneath their robes. Glancing at her friends for reassurance, she took a deep breath as they nodded for her to continue.

"The monster book of monsters?"

"Care of Magical Creatures. Clearly they expend too much of their creativity on naming the creatures themselves to bother invent interesting names for their text books," suggested Aiko.

"I don't know, maybe there's something more to it…"

"It's a _book_, Cherie. Oh for Merlin's… _I'll_ open it, Lily."

Grabbing the book from the redhead, who cried out, affronted, lithe fingers adorned with intricately intertwined metal loops, began to attack the rusty belt buckle of the book.

Which was when Cherie saw the teeth.

"Aiko, stop!"

The book sprung open and launched itself at a startled Aiko.

"What the…?!"

She found herself being pushed aside just as Lily ran to jump on top of the book. Breathing a sigh of relief, green eyes glowered at the carnivorous volume of paper and pulled out her wand.

"I never thought I would say this to a book, but… _Stupefy_!"

Buckling it successfully, she looked up only to see that they were surrounded by a cloud of light glittery mistiness.

"… Cherie? Aiko?"

* * *

A fist banged at the door frame.

"It only hit two of them."

"Which two, Padfoot?"

"I can't tell from here. Not even Evans' hair stands out in that fog."

"It'll be enough to scare them, Padfoot," reassured Remus.

"What's it going to do to them anyway?" asked Peter curiously.

Sirius and James exchanged a cheeky grin.

"Make them relive their worst nightmare."

* * *

Interested? Maybe? No? Not really? Oh dear. Well, please do try to keep reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter four

"_Go! Now remember, he is our most loyal customer and you must satisfy him, or we will not pay you a cent, even if you are from one of the noble pureblood families!"_

_The girl with the large almond-shaped blue eyes nodded. Her hair was matted amber, thrown into a messy bun. Her youthful face was caked in layers of make up; the lips blood red, the eyes outlined deeply in black and coloured in a rich deep purple and the high cheekbones brushed with pink. She found herself pushed and stumbled through the gauze drapery hanging from the doorway. Taking a deep breath and stepping forth, she curtsied as she had been taught, the gown dropping in a gentle multitude of folds of chiffon and faille to the ground as she did so._

"_Come closer," came a clear icy command._

_She walked towards the man with platinum blonde hair and piercing grey eyes. He studied her closely and gauged her age to be not a day about ten._

"_How old are you?"_

"_Fourteen," she replied automatically._

_He snorted. Liar. He leaned forward and stared down at her. She did not flinch or move away. Instead, she returned his gaze. Inwardly, he chuckled. This indeed was a pureblood noble. Satisfied, he leaned back against the cushions that had been placed against the wall on the bed, casually lifting one leg and placing it on the bed._

"_Do you know what to do?"_

_She nodded impassively._

"_Come."_

_The little girl with the bright blue eyes reached the foot of the bed, standing right before this man, this nameless stranger, and knelt, bending forward as she did so._

_One arm moved to cover his eyes, the other outstretched, lying casually on the banister of the large amaranthine canopy bed. His breathing slowed, and grew ragged as he struggled to control it. A moan escaped his lips and the hand gripping the railing turned white._

_Standing, the girl child wiped at her mouth and moved to push the tea trolley before him. Small fingers grasped the teapot and struggled under its full weight, but the expression remained indifferent. He smirked and watched her offer him the cup. The eyes revealed a spirit that refused to die. He motioned for her to stand by him. She did so and fed him the drink wordlessly. Lazily, he caressed her soft tendrils and, mildly surprised by its authenticity, forcibly pulled her ear to his mouth, ignoring the empty teacup that fell from her grasp as she toppled over._

"_The initiation leads to a life that can never be turned around and erased," he whispered cruelly into the ear of her broken innocence._

* * *

"_Mama!" cried the little girl, running to a woman cloaked in an emerald robe with silver lining and black embroidery. So where had the red come from?_

"_Hush, my love, go upstairs," she whispered fervently, pushing herself up from the floor and impelling for her daughter to move upstairs._

"_It's been four years, Rosemarie! You lied to me, didn't you? You knew!"_

_She didn't bother refuting the arguments – it would only get worse. She shoved her daughter up the stairs and stood up, swaying a little on her feet. If only father had still been alive, then he wouldn't have dared to treat her in this manner…_

"_You knew you couldn't produce an heir, didn't you? You knew that I had specifically demanded that you produce me a male to continue my lineage. _Where is he_?"_

_She could hardly have helped that! It wasn't her fault… she'd always had a frail bone structure; much too frail to have borne children – he'd always known that. It had been a miracle that she could have even one child. He'd only married her for her blood, her father's estate, their lineage… She glanced up at her daughter, grasping the staircase railings as though her life depended on it._

_Cherie shut her eyes tightly and struggled not to scream as her father smashed a bottle and advanced towards the immobile figure of her mother. Why didn't she run? Why didn't she scream? Why didn't she struggle? It was all her fault. All because she wasn't a boy – that was why mummy was getting hurt. All because of her. Everything she did was bad – and mummy always got hurt for it. All the time. Always…_

_When she opened her eyes, father had already begun ascending the staircase…_

* * *

"Shit," muttered Aiko, pushing her way through the mist. She was well accustomed to glamour – illusion charms were her specialty.

A scream sliced through the quiescence of nature's balanced harmony, and Lily instinctively jumped into the mist. That was Cherie. She was here. She was near, very near; they had only been sitting in a circle…

"_Expello somnium_!"

The mist vanished, leaving only Cherie huddled, crying, and Lily making soothing noises in an attempt to comfort her. Hearing footsteps approach, she instinctively held Cherie tighter, turning to observe the guilt-stricken expressions of the Marauders. The glower she sent James radiated with anger that he could feel more than observe visually.

"Get lost," snapped Aiko from behind, wand held up.

Lily extracted hers from her robe and pointed it directly at James Potter.

"Out of my sight. _Now_."

Something in her voice told them to do as they were told without another word. For a split second, however, Remus thought he saw… He shook his head. No, that wasn't possible. He was imagining things.

* * *

Three hours later, after too many potions, too much of Madame Pomfrey and the complete development of a desperation for freedom, Cherie was finally able to escape from the hospital wing.

"You couldn't have just… You know slapped me out of it instead or something?" she demanded reproachfully.

"But then we'd have had to attend Transfiguration," replied Aiko teasingly.

As they bantered, Lily watched on with a contemplative expression. Here were her two best friends of so many years, who knew so much about each other, and yet, so little… There were implications, of course. Living in the same dorm had made them very wary as to what was appropriate to talk about and what not to. For all three girls, family was taboo. Blood ties were forbidden, whether it be talk of pureblood connections or muggle born "impurity".

"Hey Cherie,"

Something in Lily's tone made her hesitate as a trepid silence settled over the atmosphere. Cherie looked at her questioningly.

"Just then… Aiko said it was an illusory charm… What did you see?"

The silence grew icy.

"… Hey, you know, there's this really nice ice cream that I want to introduce…"

"Aiko, not this time. We've been friends how long now? We don't know anything _substantial_ about one another at all! I don't want to force it out of you, but really, if there's anything wrong… Even if we can't help, we're your friends. We could at least help you in some way or another."

Cherie smiled blithely, making as though her mind was elsewhere.

"What are you on about, Lily? I tell you guys everything. You're both everything to me," she insisted, taking the hands of both girls.

Lily placed her other hand on top of Cherie's, and returned the smile, but one of sorrow intermingled with determination.

"Cherie, Aiko and I aren't stupid. We have never seen you wear a sleeveless shirt or without a pair of incredibly thick black stockings. When Aiko offered you her arm warmers, do you really believe it was because we couldn't stand the fact that your shirt had been stained?"

"Lily! We said we'd never…"

"I know, Aiko, but this has gone on enough. I want to know why. I _need_ to know who my best friends are. You're the same, Aiko. You seem so cheerful, but there's just so much more to you. Sometimes you mysteriously disappear from school for a week and who do you think covers for you? We know nothing about each other!"

"And you, Lily?" asked Cherie quietly, her grey eyes piercingly direct.

"What about me?"

"When you sporadically run out of class, or during meals? When you slip outside in the middle of the night to cry when you know very well me and Aiko will always be here for you?"

She hadn't realised they'd noticed, but she should've figured. Even within their friendship, there were secrets kept in an attempt to protect people they didn't know. That's what they were to one another. Complete strangers, but strangers who'd somehow been thrown together and produced a cycle of… not trust, but protection. The protection of secrets they did not fully understand from the cruelty of the outside world.

"Yes, me too," she eventually conceded.

"So what _ever_ shall we do to solve this, do you think?"

Lily and Cherie almost jumped. Aiko stood before them looking entirely serious for the first time they had been friends, staring intently at both, waiting patiently for a response with a composure that radiated acceptance of their situation.

"We use a memory charm."

"Huh?"

Lily and Aiko looked at Cherie questioningly.

"We can all share our secret – _the_ secret – but as a memory. A picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes it's easier to show people than to explain things. Our magic is limited – we can't create a pensieve, and we're not about to be able to randomly obtain one any way. We know how to select memories as we remember them and project them, right? Surely we could do something like that."

Cherie turned to Lily expectantly, who was evidently mulling over the possibilities that were available.

"Yes we could… I think. The pensieve works by transforming the memory into a physical substance that can be stored, right? Well, we can't change it into a physical substance because that form of transfiguration is too advanced, but I think it could be possible to transfer the essence of the memory into an object that we can then all access by touch."

Aiko hesitated.

"Isn't that dangerous? What if someone else finds it?"

"How about a key of some sort? We could protect it with a password charm so that it will only allow the three of us access."

"Are you sure there'll be no one who can breach that though?"

Lily was surprised by Aiko's sudden sceptical behaviour, so uncharacteristic of her usual cheerful everything-goes demeanour.

"If we make it one of your common ornaments, nobody will think to make it as anything else but a bauble, let consider that it could have a password."

Aiko considered this for a moment, tugging at the tassels she'd attached to her hair, and nodded.

"Well I'm in, you?"

"I am if you are."

"I'm the one who wanted to know, so definitely."

"But," added Aiko, pulling a little too hard and causing her pigtails to begin unravelling, "This happens _after_ the Yule ball, okay? Until then, I don't want anything to happen that could potentially ruin our friendship."

The other two nodded in solemn agreement.

* * *

"What do you want?"

Remus hesitated, missing the reproachful look that Lily shot Aiko.

"I was just wondering, is Cherie feeling better?" he inquired politely.

"Yes she is. Thank you for asking," replied Lily smiling breezily, discreetly twisting Aiko's arm just that little further, "She just wanted to get a bit of rest in our dorm after Pomfrey's consistent fluttering. You know how it is."

"Umm… Yeah… Look, I'm really sor…"

"Don't worry about it," she responded, interrupting him directly as her lips curled, "We'll make you sorrier."

Aiko stopped struggling and stared at her friend in awe. Remus blinked, clearly taken by surprise.

"Oh… Er… Then… Umm…"

"We look forward to the challenge," came the bemused response from behind him.

Lily turned away from Remus, momentarily stunned. When had Potter walked up to them? With a small gesture of goodbye, James proceeded to drag his friend away from dinner.

"I'm impressed, Lily, do you have something in mind?"

"Nope."

"So that was just a bluff?"

"No. I'm sure you'll think of something soon," she replied airily.

Aiko stared at her friend, speechless.

"I cannot believe you just sprung that one on me."

"You know you'll do it."

"You may bet your life on it."

* * *

"Where did you come from?"

"Nowhere," replied James carefully casually.

Remus watched him askance, but said nothing.

"Where's Padfoot?"

"I think he's acquiring a date for the Yule ball."

"Really? Who did he pick? Ciara or Felicity?"

"The dumb…"

At that moment, a squeal of excitement erupted from the common room and James and Remus exchanged glances.

"Oh."

When they walked into the room, they recognised the figure seated on the couch by his legs. Felicity had, most definitely in her excitement, jumped on top of him and was now attempting to eat his face entirely. James rolled his eyes and made to walk away when Remus nudged him.

"Hey, what's with her?"

Cherie stood at the foot of the stairs to the girls' dorm, paralysed with despair and embarrassment. Her face was drained of all colour and her expression conveyed the epitome of torment. Hands lifted to cover her mouth as she felt the urge to cry out loud, and she fled.

James and Remus exchanged a look, and shrugged. It was probably just a girl thing.

"I'm not hungry anymore," remarked James absentmindedly, turning and walking towards the Quidditch pitch.

"I'm not dateless anymore," piqued an additional voice from out of nowhere.

The two boys started only to see Peter standing beside them grinning cheerfully.

"That's nice," encouraged Remus with a smile, "Who is it?"

"Clarissa from Ravenclaw," he responded eagerly before launching into intricate details about his fears, her loveliness, the event, and entirely missing the frown that momentarily shadowed Remus' expression.

James, having not missed it, looked at him askance. Remus in turn, shrugged and shook his head. It was probably nothing.

* * *

"Could you please stop trailing me," she snapped irritably.

"So, when do I pick you up?" he asked cheerfully beside her.

She stopped so abruptly he almost fell over her, narrowly escaping the cloud of red hair that threatened to slap him across the face as she spun around.

"_Excuse_ me?"

"You know, to the Ball?"

"And who said I was going with you?" she asked through gritted teeth, anger rising.

"Me," he responded, grinning from ear to ear. How cute she was when annoyed.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that I actually have a say in the matter."

"You're forgiven."

That was it.

"_James Henry Potter who on earth do you think you are_?!"

"James Henry Potter I believe," he responded with a smirk.

Uttering a cry of frustration, she stormed away, ignoring his casually amused calling out of her name behind her.

"Now why in Merlin's name would you want to go out with that freak," queried Sirius in wonder.

James glanced at his best friend, considered his words, and shrugged, a slow grin spreading across his face.

"Maybe I just like a challenge."

"Ciara's pretty…"

"… Pretentious and arrogant and condescending," he finished on his friend's behalf, "We've been through this. No."

"Because clearly Evans is _nothing_ like that," he shot back sarcastically.

James shrugged again. He couldn't explain the difference between the two girls. There was just an iciness that radiated from the Ravenclaw that was so entirely different from the warmth of the aura emitted by Lily. Yes, even when she was ignoring him, or attempting to hex him, or just angry at him in general.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Struggling to overpower her tears, Cherie nodded frantically, hiccuping and plastering a broad smile of reassurance across her expression.

Lily was not convinced. Aiko stormed through the entrance to their dorm and threw her bundle up into the air, showering them with chocolate frogs.

"Ouch! Aiko!" reprimanded Lily; her friend shrugged sheepishly in turn.

"Oops?"

Cherie, through her hiccups, laughed weakly and began to preoccupy herself with catching and eating the jumpy delectable treats. Lily watched, musing as she did so.

_Looking at us now… Who'd think we have anything to hide?_

Just then, a second year girl with blonde pigtails appeared at the door ready to speak, but stared speechlessly at the spectacle. Lily could hear her mentally pray that she would never grow up to be like this.

"Yes, little one?" asked Aiko cheerfully, pouncing on the poor girl and taking her by the hands, pulled her inside.

"Umm… James Potter is looking for you," she eventually piped, after noticing that Lily, at least, seemed tolerably sane.

Lily's expression darkened dramatically, and the messenger girl gulped.

"Do I seem as though I'm at his beck and call?"

"Erm… He said that, if you didn't, he'd string your undergarments across the Great Hall," she mumbled, turning bright red.

"Hey! What the… When did they go missing?" yelped Aiko, eyes wide open at their now-empty drawers.

_Calm, Lily, calm_ she reminded herself mentally, then, gritting her teeth, did her best to smile at the bringer of bad news. Catching a chocolate frog, she threw it to her.

"Okay, where is he?" she managed with a rather forced civility.

* * *

Inspired by the tragedies that I came across in an article about Indonesia during my school research, this is an issue that exists and occurs worldwide. It was just another perspective, especially when I came across a story on teenage girls working at bars that offer "sensual services" quite simply for… Well, it'll be incorporated into my story, at any rate. Sorry, this seems to be dragging it out unnecessarily, but I hope it's not too boring!

Winteresque


	5. Chapter 5

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter five

"What do you want now?" she snapped, glowering.

Her friends had followed after her in solemn silence, though not necessarily solely to support Lily. They were staring at their once-blonde guide, sucking on her chocolate frog, walking away as her hair turned bubblegum pink, then faded into a mass of electric blue dreadlocks, and then into a mousy brown mess of stringy, intangible knots. She walked up to Remus, cheerfully relating, it seemed, the details of how she had acquired her chocolate frog.

Smirking, he merely bowed deeply, causing Lily to flush bright red, and conjured a corsage of lilies from thin air. Her eyes widened, and the blush deepened.

"What's the meaning of this, Potter?" she spat, arms crossed, intent on not making a fool of herself.

"It's a formal tradition," he explained, as if to a simpleton.

The manner of his tone annoyed her, and she gritted her teeth. Cherie and Aiko stepped back, bracing themselves for the storm that would soon be unleashed.

"I gathered that, Potter. _What_ does that have to do with _me_?"

"As your date, I am obliged to offer this gift to you to denote your belonging to me during the Ball," he responded with a grin.

"_What in the name of Merlin makes you think that you could possibly own me in any way shape or form, Potter?_"

"Well you're wearing it aren't you?"

His grin broadened at their bewildered gaping. He was right. She _was_ wearing it, but nobody could understand how he had found the time to slip it on, or even use magic to put it on. She frowned, and proceeded to take it off. It refused to budge. Bright copper curls shook with rage.

"_Take it off now, Potter!_"

"I can't," he replied simply, settling into his smirk.

"_What do you mean you can't_?"

"The corsage won't come off unless there is absolutely no shred of your desire to attend the Ball with me, but as we can see…" he gestured mischievously, "Clearly you _do_ secretly want to be my date."

For a moment, Lily fell silent, staring at the neatly arranged flowers on her wrist. Did she really? She rather unwillingly admitted that it could most definitely be the case. James' smile faltered as she gazed unwaveringly at him for a moment, contemplating this new revelation. Yes, it was possible, if not necessarily probable. Without another word, she turned around and calmly walked away from their gathering. Raising an eyebrow, Aiko decided not to question anything, but follow in tow. Cherie, however, remained where she was.

"Really now?"

"Huh?" James blinked, surprised at being addressed so intently by a pair of crystal blue eyes, filled with doubt and cynicism.

"You're lying, aren't you?"

Unwittingly and rather reflexively, James nodded his affirmation. She put a hand to her lips contemplatively, brows furrowed for a moment, then nodded.

"I see."

James and Remus watched her with mounting hesitation, tentatively attempting to gauge what might occur next. What did happen, neither of them had anticipated. She moved towards them, backing both boys against a wall.

"Be very careful. Pull another prank like that on either me or any of my friends again, and it may be your last," she murmured with an icy calmness that almost made their knees give way, despite the seemingly harmless creature before them.

The boys exchanged bewildered expressions. Since when had Cherie, of all people, grown a backbone?

* * *

The countdown was on. The silly thing had been attached to her wrist for the past three days – there were four left until the night of the Yule Ball. The more she considered the possibility of desiring James' company, the less adverse to the idea she felt. Her friends watch this with rather animated interest, but only when Lily wasn't present to see their amusement.

"Maybe we should tell her before she actually falls for him."

"If she didn't already like him, it would occur to her to actually try and find a means to remove the corsage."

"I suppose… But I feel bad for keeping this from her."

"Cherie, it isn't going to start anything that wasn't already a possibility anyway – don't stress. By the way, have we got everything prepared?"

Cherie nodded and exchanged rather devilish grins with Aiko, holding up a deck of cards. This would be fun.

"Would never have been able to do it without the gossip queen herself," she remarked, clasping Cherie's hand.

She shrugged modestly.

"So what are you guys up to?"

They jumped.

"_Don't do that_!"

"Do what?" asked Lily innocently.

"Creep up on us like that!"

Lily shrugged.

"Is everything prepared?"

"Just waiting for you to begin the show."

"And our stars, of course."

Right on cue, Felicity barged through the door, hair tousled, licking her very swollen lips. Lily and Aiko shared a look of mutual disgust, but didn't miss the quiver of Cherie's bottom lip. Nevertheless, Lily made to look mildly amused.

"Enjoyed your afternoon?"

"It was definitely much more satisfying than yours, I assure you," she replied with a sneer, leaning towards the mirror to fix up her mascara.

"Oh? Really now?"

"Yes, really," she responded, glancing in mild annoyance at the red head.

"Want to play a game?"

Flicking her blonde hair, she twirled around to face their nonchalant expressions, crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry, but only immature little children like yourselves feel the need to pass your time playing silly little games," she responded, her irritation becoming readily more evident.

"But it involves firewhiskey," piped Aiko.

"And secrets," added Cherie slyly.

Felicity eyed them doubtingly for a moment.

"Okay, talk."

* * *

"Are they ready yet?"

Aiko cast a surreptitious glance at Felicity and her underlings fawning over the Marauders and shook her head.

"We'll give them another five minutes then?"

"They'll be more insistent if they see us leave first. You know how much Felicity darling hates feeling left out," pointed out Cherie.

Lily considered this and nodded, glancing at the corsage still attached to her wrist. Her lips curled into a devious grin as she stood up and moved towards the dorms, her friends following suit.

Behind them, they heard the insistent cries of, "Come _on_ it'll be fun!" and the very falsely begrudging responses of, "Fine, alright, we're coming!"

"And so it begins," murmured Cherie, glancing a little hesitantly at the positively demonic expression on Lily's face.

If they weren't careful, she might transform herself into a true Marauder before long. The addicting pull of pranks and law breaking was often rather intoxicating to an innocent mind. Especially one as intelligent as Lily. She glanced at Aiko, who nodded to show she'd followed her train of thought, but that didn't stop her from pulling out her deck of cards and idly shuffle them for a little while.

"Okay, we're here. What've you girls got for us?" asked Sirius, arms crossed in his usual arrogant bastard kind of way.

Cherie looked away and Lily suppressed a glower, instead struggling to smile brightly.

"It's just a little game my parents taught me, is all," responded Aiko, blinking innocently.

Anyone who took the time to get to know her knew that this was a clear indicator that Aiko was up to something, but nobody really took the time to analyse this freak, and so everybody put it down to her immaturity. Thus, none of the victims were at all suspicious of what was about to happen.

"Hurry up then. You might have nothing to do with _your_ time, but _we_ happen to have lives," snapped Felicity impatiently.

"What's the Ravenclaw doing here?"

Ciara raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a problem?"

"Not at all," responded Aiko cheerfully.

The two girls exchanged a silent, unrelenting power struggle. The exchange was clear. Something is up. Do not interfere. You have no hold over me. I will not lose. Wisely, Cherie stood up and walked right across their line of sight, breaking the contact in an instant and retrieving the required equipment.

"The game is simple. A cup of Firewhiskey will be placed before you. Cards will be shuffled and distributed. Person with the highest card will determine what kind of secret is to be revealed, what it relates to, for example, an object, or just a general emotion, such as fear. Person with the lowest card reveals a secret accordingly. Everyone else has to drink."

"What if we don't have a secret relating to the topic?" asked Peter cautiously.

"Or if we don't want to reveal it," added Ciara, staring intently at them.

"If you're without secret, then you're boring, but safe. If you don't want to reveal it, well you can choose to walk away, but if you lie… Well, it's up to you whether or not you're willing to risk it," responded Aiko, grinning.

"Scared, Felicity?" asked Lily innocently, tauntingly.

"Let's just begin already," she snapped impatiently.

* * *

They flipped the cards Remus with King, Aiko with two. Biting his lip, he contemplated how to determine whether or not this game was rigged. A secret about her that he knew? A secret about Aiko? She was the secret. What did he know about her that nobody else knew, and would discomfort her to reveal? Then again, did he want to put her through that discomfort? He stared intently at her, those deep brown eyes cloaked with mystery. Eye colour? His mind returned to what he had seen the day of their prank. That moment of possible hallucination, but maybe…

"Eyes."

The usual jeering of fine eyes and intent stares, furtive glances at crushes. The utter nonsense of teenage boys. Remus saw those eyes change from cloudy to black, the shields up. She hadn't anticipated that. She'd always imagined that nobody knew, or was it just coincidence? But no, Remus was smarter than that. She mentally cursed herself. They'd only charmed their game to avoid the discovery of their greatest mental anguish, just in case. She'd fixed it so that she would be chosen first, to suggest that the game hadn't been tampered with because she knew she'd have been most prepared to respond to any attempts to discover their concealment. She hadn't anticipated this. But perhaps they wouldn't realise the significance of the revelation anyway.

"My natural eye colour is deep blue."

One that most ordinary humans didn't, couldn't possess. Lily and Cherie stared at her in surprise. Deep blue? They'd been friends since first year. How hadn't they noticed that? The others complained of Remus' lack of creativity, to which he responded with a shrug. He was satisfied that this game had not been tampered with. Even her friends had looks of astonishment etched subtly in their expressions. This had been kept a secret. The question was why.

* * *

Felicity had a Queen to Sirius' four and she almost purred.

"Me."

Sirius paused. A secret? Relating to her? Lying was not an option, but it was probably less ideal to mention that he thought she couldn't kiss properly to save her life. Clearly she'd lived by quantity over quality for most of her life. Clearly she was waiting for him to confess her undying love. How to get out of this alive and not dateless? A secret. What was a secret? A piece of information that is concealed, or at the very least, not openly mentioned. Right. Got it.

She raised her eyebrow and tapped her fingernails on the floor, impatient.

"I think you look best in your sportswear because I see down your shirt best then," he finally announced, grinning.

Well, not quite what she had anticipated, but good enough to reward him with a kiss. For a few minutes. Cherie looked away, tears brimming in her eyes.

The rest of the room started coughing awkwardly. Lily discreetly passed Cherie a tissue as Aiko attempted to distract the rest of the room by shuffling the cards.

* * *

After a few minutes more of meandering and missing the point, Lily finally gave the signal to Aiko, who began to hum just that little bit more cheerfully. Not that anybody but her friends noticed.

"Cherie, Queen. Sirius, three."

She looked up into that entrancing gaze and averted her eyes, heart beating wildly. Sirius smiled nonchalantly, knowing precisely what he was doing. She wouldn't try anything that might damage his reputation. He knew it, and she knew he knew it.

"January Archwood."

The colour visibly drained from his face. There was an expression of utter naivety plastered across Cherie's delicate features. No, she couldn't have known. Not even the Marauders knew. That was one of only a handful of things he had ever lied to them about. Everybody knew that he and January had something going back at the beginning of third year, then the fifth year had simply transferred and nobody had known why, so they'd assumed that Sirius had known. But he couldn't reveal it. He just couldn't.

"Come on, Padfoot, just tell them," pursued Peter, confused as to his friend's hesitation.

But James could tell there was something wrong. He'd always known that this was something Sirius hadn't owned up to, but hadn't pressed it farther. Maybe if he had, his friend wouldn't look quite so pallid now.

"Look, if he doesn't want to…"

"What's wrong? Is it too personal? Would you like Cherie to change the question?" asked Lily innocently.

"Actually, I don't think that's allowed," replied Aiko with an equally brilliant look of feigned artlessness.

Neither felt the need to disclose information about Cherie's good friend, Moaning Myrtle, the source of the most interesting gossip in Hogwarts.

"Alright," growled Sirius, throwing off the persistent tugging from Felicity, who in turn looked at him with absolute horror at being treated in such a manner.

A mumble was elicited.

"Sorry, what was that?" puzzled Lily.

James moved as if to defend his friend, but Sirius extended an arm and stopped him.

"I said," he practically snarled, "she left the school on the grounds of sexual harassment."

"Merlin! Of who?" asked Felicity, eyes bulging.

Another indecipherable murmur.

"Huh? Sirius, baby, I can't…"

"I said, me!" he snapped, and everyone stared.

Sirius? _The_ Sirius, consider _any_ form of sexual advancement by an individual of the opposite gender, harassment? Their world began to spin.

"… What?"

Lily and Aiko stared at Cherie. They had been given cues and hadn't questioned the content that it would unveil. They hadn't realised what information precisely she had dug up. It did, however, explain how quiet she had become.

"She tried to do me, I got scared and cried, McGonagall walked in on us, the entire thing was hushed up, are you happy now?"

Silence ensued. Did they want to continue this game now? Did they have anything this secretive that they'd forgotten, something they would have to own up or admit defeat to? Finally, Aiko broke the silence.

"You have my respect."

"What?" uttered Sirius, confused.

"For owning up to it."

He felt the pressure on his back as his friends thumped him hard, indicating their enthusiastic support for his bravery. Felicity, not to be outdone, began cooing over her "baby" and insisting that he had not diminished in his eyes in any way. Suddenly, he was beginning to find her presence very tiresome.

Lily watched Cherie with concern. Blonde hair was being tugged at by tiny clenched fists, a clear indication that she was feeling incredibly unsettled. Cherie's own thoughts remained solely of her mental insistence that it was his fault that it had to be revealed. If it hadn't been for his silly ego, his shallow nature, his amazing courage, his bewitching gaze… She'd overstepped the boundaries and she knew it. She hated herself for that. But it had hurt so much when she'd seen him… That didn't matter anymore. It had become part of the past now.

Atmosphere restored, the game recommenced.

* * *

"Lily, ten, James, two."

She glanced hesitantly at Cherie, who nodded. Aiko placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder which Ciara observed. The two exchanged darkly meaningful glowers.

"Apples."

James blushed and behind his back, his friends exchanged grins that both worried and calmed Lily. Calmed her, because it meant that there could be nothing devastating, but bad because she didn't like their Cheshire smiles. Or the way James was suddenly staring very intently at the carpet, playing with his hair.

"Umm… Well… You see… That is… It was just… Well, not really, but… IsortofstoleyourshampootheonethatsmellslikeapplesandIsortofstillhaveitbutIaminnowayastalkersopleaseresistresortingtoviolence."

"What?" asked Lily, now genuinely confused.

"It was an experiment back in second year," explained Remus, "We… shall we say… happened upon the knowledge as to how to get into the girls dormitories and wanted to test it… But we haven't been there since," he added quickly.

"Well, he hasn't," asserted Sirius with a smirk, "Anyway, what Jamsie here did was steal your shampoo because it smells like your hair, surprisingly enough."

"See? I _told_ you I didn't take it!" added Aiko with a flourish.

Lily's first thought was to wonder how James knew what her hair smelt of. The second was to wonder why he couldn't just _buy_ his own – it was expensive and she wanted it back. The third was dedicated to comprehending the situation as a whole. The forth, to try and get her vocal chords to work again.

"How does James know what Lily's hair smells of?" questioned Cherie, intrigued.

"They have been in enough entanglements to get rather close to each other rather frequently," offered Remus.

"Hey yeah! They have, haven't they? That's how they met, wasn't it? And it just keeps happening… Probably because they're so alike. They both love to rush around too quickly to complete their goals and stuff…"

Peter trailed off as he took in the death stares the two were sending him then, mumbling about having to meet with his Ravenclaw date in the library about the Yule Ball, dashed away as quickly as he dared to without any sudden movements that might result in an early demise.

Ciara got up. She didn't need to hear about James' "secret" adoration for Lily directly from him and his friends. The rumours were enough. She sent another scowl in the direction of Aiko, who responded alike. The message was clear on either side. _Stay away and don't meddle_.

"This is ridiculous. I'm leaving. Night James," she murmured, enticingly trailing a finger across his jaw as she sashayed out of the common room.

"That wasn't obvious at all," drawled Sirius, amused.

* * *

Aiko sighed. This was ridiculous. Their consciences were too great for this whole plan for humility to have been able to work successfully. Who would've thought that being nice was so problematic?

"One last turn and we'll call it a day?" offered Lily, tired from the confusion.

The others nodded in agreement and she took the cards from Aiko, who pouted. She'd been having fun rigging the deck. They hadn't actually intended on rigging the _entire_ game, but really, she hadn't seen the harm…

"James, King to my three. Ask away."

Just as his usual, vapid comments were about to arise, he quelled it and paused to think. This was his opportunity to discover something about Lily. Something special. He wanted to know more about her. Not because he liked her, of course, nothing like that. Just… because she was strange. Weird. A freak. Not like other girls. That was all.

"Family."

Cherie and Aiko instinctively cast worried glances at each other and immediately placed a hand on each of Lily's shoulders. They could feel how tense she had become, though her expression remained impassive. This she would rise to admit as bravely as everybody else had. She would not be made to seem like a coward.

"My sister hates me," she grated through gritted teeth.

"Why?"

"Game's over, she answered you, she doesn't need to explain herself as well," retorted Aiko quickly.

"Sirius elaborated," pointed out Felicity, pouting.

"That was his choice," Cherie replied calmly.

"Because I'm a witch," responded Lily, fists clenched.

"What? Why?" persisted James, catching her arm as she made to leave the room.

"That's none of your concern," she snapped, pulling away.

He gripped tighter.

"Why not? I want to know!"

She pushed him and he fell to the ground in astonishment. Then anger.

"You're such a conceited stuck up little know it all princess, who wouldn't hate you?" he scowled, angry now at having been shown to have been pushed over by a girl of all things, "Your parents probably _died_ because of you!"

The instant he said it, he regretted it, but it was too late. The damage was done. She spun and glared at him with an expression that would have shattered diamond. The entire room became icily enshrouded in an eerily disquiet silence. Breaths were held, time stopped. The noise echoed across the emptiness and a reddening hand imprint was left on James' cheek.

The corsage slipped from her wrist, fell to the ground, and withered. The others gaped. A small amount of magic would have been sufficient to remove it, but no magic had been performed. They jumped as the glass of the windows of their common room cracked.

"Don't talk about things you don't know," she hissed, and left for her dormitory.

Lily was known for her temper, yes, but never like this. James stared in delirious incredulity at the space she had occupied only seconds ago. She had gotten angry at him before, yes, but never like this. Today… today she had become something more. He had touched a part of her that had released a devastating, unrelenting anger, but one borne out of sadness and despair. He could feel it, and he wanted to know more about it, to heal it. He couldn't explain why, but he wanted to _know_.

"Stay the hell away from her if you want to continue living," suggested Aiko with an uncharacteristic coldness as she followed after Lily.

Cherie packed and followed suit, leaving three very dazed looking boys trying desperately to comprehend the events that had just taken place. Oh yes, and a girl who was struggling to reclaim their attention. After all, how often did a girl find herself in a room with three of the cutest boys in the grade without any other girls around?

* * *

And the plot thickens! Sort of. Curse the silly individual who invented the concept of having individuals examined and ranked accordingly to direct the paths of their futures! Silly creatures putting unnecessary burdens of stress on poor little high school children. It truly dampens the positives of graduation immensely, no?

//Winteresque


	6. Chapter 6

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter six

The days passed rapidly and without interest. Well, almost. As the adorable "pet" of most of the older students and lovely older sister to the smaller ones, Aiko had successfully convinced a little less than a quarter of the entire Hogwarts population with a rather dramatised and damaging story about James abusing Lily terribly to ensure that he was kept from her sight at all times. Whether it was to protect Lily from James or James from Lily, nobody could quite decide.

"I'm impressed. When you try, you have almost as much power over our school as the Marauders themselves," remarked Cherie.

Aiko shrugged.

"You just have to be connected with the right people, right? Gryffindor Captain Richard Spinnet, Hufflepuff Head Girl Ashley Summers, Ravenclaw's smartest sixth year, Edwin Chambers, Third year Slytherin Candice…"

"You're friends with that girl?" she interrupted, bewildered.

Candice was renowned for her incredibly strong, suffocating aura that their Divinations professor would refuse to be anywhere within a ten mile radius of. She was mostly a recluse and rarely spoke. Suffice to say, even the Slytherins felt her presence unnerving and mostly did what she asked of them.

"Sure. Why not?" replied Aiko, blinking with wide-eyed innocence and tilted head.

"… Nevermind. Where's Lily?"

"Where else do you go to find Lily?"

"Are we talking about the library, our room, the kitchens, or _that place_?"

"She left it. Right now she's in the library and wondering where you decided to disappear to in the middle of our study session."

"Stuff. Let's go, Lily's waiting, right?" she replied quickly. Too quickly.

The younger girls who passed them by stared in absolute wonder as they headed towards the library. Today was the day of the Yule Ball – what were forth years doing walking around carrying school books on today of all days?

* * *

"So, is everything prepared?" asked Lily nervously.

"As ready as everything will ever be," affirmed Aiko, the only one who was accustomed to being the centre of attention without minding that people could be laughing at her.

Cherie fluttered about, pedantically repositioning a circlet here, tugging at a skirt there, adjusting flowers here, reapplying make up there…

"Cherie, stop it!" wailed Aiko, running away from the girl with the fine-tipped brush dipped in a strange sparkly pastel pink substance.

Lily calmly caught both girls and sat them down on their beds. She proceeded to hand them corsages made of large white waterlilies sprinkled with what seemed like glitter.

"I can't tie this on by myself," pouted Aiko, lower lip trembling.

Lily took the simple brown string they'd opted for and tied it around the delicate little wrist of her friend while Cherie finished braiding the purple lilies into her shiny mass of black hair. Her own strawberry blonde was intermingled with pink ones, and white lilies adorned Lily's fiery red curls. All in all, Cherie was very satisfied with the overall effect. She had been in charge of the touch ups – the make up, the embellishments, everything. Mostly because she and Lily had been concerned what would happen if Aiko had been put in charge. Bright pink frills and bows came to mind and she mentally shuddered, tucking the thought neatly into a discreet corner of her mind.

No, Aiko had been put in charge of obtaining everything they required, which she managed to do with an ease that was rather suspect, but her friends had decided against asking. They probably didn't want to know anyway. Lily, on the other hand, as befitting her status as the smartest witch in their grade, was placed in charge of the charm work and, as they prepared to leave their room, she took a deep breath. This was her time to shine.

* * *

You see, everyone who walks through the entrance to the Yule ball is announced. Those who are announced alone are singled out and ridiculed for the rest of the evening unless they happen to be exceptionally gorgeous popular individuals who had clearly come stag knowing that they would have more than one date by the end of the night. Occasionally a couple or two was noted for being unusual, or expected, or even "totally gross!" This, it would seem, was the first time that _three_ individuals were announced together. To add to this, it was _three_ _girls_ together.

"Miss Lily Evans, Miss Cherie Devereux, and Miss Aiko Jiang."

And the hall gaped in absolute astonishment as they strode in, a good fifteen minutes late, beating even Felicity and the Marauders by five.

Pre-empting their entry, vines had appeared magically crept their way amidst the doorway and walls. As the footsteps came closer, waterlilies began to sprout from the entanglement of green and brown climbers. Botanically impossible, of course, but this _was_ Hogwarts, after all. A hush fell over the crowd and even Professor Dumbledore watched the spectacle in amusement.

The doors flew open and before them stood the Amazon trio themselves. A circlet of twigs and leaves were worn like crowns, the dresses flowed in a tattered ensemble of blues, greens and browns. Plaited brown silken strips accentuated the waist, interlacing up the otherwise backless dress on Aiko's halter, or wrapping around Cherie's strapless to come to a ribbon tied at either side, attaching streams of fabric concealing her slender arms.

James stared. And stared. And stared.

His goddess had finally revealed herself in all her beauty and strength of character. The low v-neck of her halter, revealing a figure that would undoubtedly grow to be even more desirable, had been modestly covered with a layer of brown fabric, and the skirt draped smoothly to the ground, trailing behind her, the a-line cut revealing an indication of very slim, very appealing long legs. Granted, he hadn't seen her in almost half a week and perhaps his memory had embellished what she really looked like maybe just a little, as one's imagination was inclined to do, but here she had surpassed everything he'd ever envisioned.

Sirius gave a low whistle of approval that earned him a glower from his date and a blush from Cherie. Richard raised an eyebrow, catching the eye of Aiko, whose gaze flicked quickly to his, and replied with an almost indiscernible shrug of the shoulders.

With a subtle flick of the wand, flower petals began to sprinkle lightly across the room, filling it with a pervading scent of wild flowers and the damp freshness of a rainforest.

"Is our attire appropriate enough, Professors?" asked Cherie, inclining her head just a little.

The other two followed suit and soon the staff found themselves falling victim to their big bright innocent gazes. They were, as it was, students that most of the staff were very fond of as it was, and nobody thought even for a moment to turn them away. Professor Dumbledore gave a slight nod, a hint of a smile observed as the corners of his mouth twitched. They curtseyed before moving towards their table and the hall resumed its lively vigour as the three struggled to keep their composure.

"I suppose it would ruin everything if we high five now, right?" mused Aiko.

"Yes, I believe so," affirmed Lily with a small smile of her own, passing a hand lightly across her cheek to feel the heat that emanated from it.

James' gaping hadn't gone unnoticed. Even if he was a prick who deserved to be grilled, shredded and dried for the giant squid's breakfast.

"A little overdone, but very impressive," commented a deep and deeply amused voice.

"Captain!"

Aiko threw herself at Richard, who caught her with ease, laughing.

"Be careful. He'll drop you if you get any bigger," teased the brunette who appeared beside him.

Aiko promptly encircled Ashley with a giant hug, and Richard almost _did_ really drop her. He raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, she's my girlfriend. Get your own!" he joked, pulling her off the Head girl and setting her down.

She stuck her tongue out at him and merely hugged Ashley tighter, causing the couple to laugh.

"Are you _sure_ you're thirteen and not three?" he asked tauntingly, to which she blatantly ignored.

Cherie and Lily exchanged grins. So much for an impression of mature sophistication. But they did envy her ability to make such good friends with so much ease.

"That was some impressive charm work," praised Richard, addressing Lily, "I'm not sure I would've been able to pull something like that off in forth year."

Richard was the renowned seventh year charms genius, and was never known to give compliments unless they were well deserved. Blushing, Lily thanked him meekly. Her friends watched her with expressions of pride. Yes, they did envy her intelligence, but they were much happier feeling happy for her more than anything else.

"And you're Cherie, right? Aiko mentions the two of you all the time. I hear you're the one who dealt with the aesthetics, yes? You have a lot of taste and a very good eye," added Ashley, Hogwart's Queen of style herself.

Cherie managed to stutter a thank you, but only just. Hogwart's Head Girl not only knew who she was, but was also impressed with her style? Cherie felt she could die happily now.

As they exchanged their formal well wishing for the night, the couple departed for the dance floor, leaving all three feeling exhilarated, but also watching wistfully after them. What would it be like to share the kind of love that Hogwart's golden couple possessed? To have someone to love, to care for, to take care of, to confide in, to be with…

"May I have this dance?"

Three girls sat up and blinked in astonishment.

The voice had not been one, but three, and it had rendered all of them speechless.

Ravenclaw sixth year Thomas Davies stood before Cherie, hand proffered.

Slytherin fourth year Derrick Vaisey had knelt before Aiko and taken her hand.

Gryffindor seventh year Johnson Kirke kissed the back of Lily's hand and sent her a dazzling smile of good grace and chivalry.

Ravenclaw's seeker, Slytherin's bad boy, and Gryffindor's infamous player. Dazed, Lily accepted without thinking. Cherie, blushing profusely, placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be swept towards the dance floor. Aiko stood and gave Derrick a secretive smile as he looked up towards her.

On the other side of the room, Ciara and Felicity sensed the danger of being usurped.

* * *

The waltz began and all hopes that these silly unknown little girls would trip up, fall over and make a fool of themselves, died. Felicity mentally cursed them, but kept her thoughts to herself, smoothing out her facial expressions as best she could. She refused to let anyone realise that she was at all worried about three insignificant children who looked as though they hadn't hit puberty yet. Beside her, Ciara was busy calculating the new revelations and eventually concluded that it was just a phase. It would die within a week. Everyone was just astonished that the forth year prudes had finally shown some skin. James, however… Her glance flicked to his expression and, to her surprised, she identified… anger?

James was livid with rage. Of all people… How _dare_ Kirke ask Lily to dance? Not because he cared particularly about Evans, of course, just because… because… It was so hypocritical! He hadn't even realised she existed until today, when James had known her for so long… So very long. Since they had begun school at Hogwarts. No, before them. _He_ was the first student of Hogwarts she'd ever laid eyes on! And here she was, dancing with someone else. He didn't care about her particularly, obviously, it was Lily, but… but it just wasn't _right_. He'd gone stag just for… for the chance to… It didn't matter anymore. The point was that she wasn't supposed to be with _Kirke_. The guy was a bastard and there was nobody in the entire school who didn't know that.

Granted, that didn't stop him from being exceptionally good with girls, and he'd been put on detention more than once for being caught out of bed in broom cupboards with ready and willing girls despite his reputation. But Lily was _smarter_ than that. She wasn't supposed to fall for guys like that. She was supposed to know better. She was _different_ to those silly fawning girls who giggled at compliments and fluttered their eyelashes. She… She was… different.

Remus eyed James with concern. In fact, he was busy eyeing all of his friends with concern at this very moment. James was seething, and it wasn't very difficult to guess why. In fact, between the four of them, even Peter had managed to figure it out, leaving James the only one entirely clueless about himself. Peter himself was dancing with Clarissa, which worried Remus. Their families socialised in the same circles, but that circle had recently observed the beginning of a split as the imminent dark war came closer, and her family was beginning to display signs of misplaced loyalty.

And, of course, Sirius drooling over three new debutants was bound to end miserably, if not by James' hands, then most definitely by Felicity's. In fact, if her piercing gaze held any physical power, he'd have been buried ten feet under already. Not that he was going to blame his friend. It was amazing what a fitted gown could do for the female form, and they had proved that tonight.

Thoughts averted, he gazed at Aiko intently. He had never seen her like this before. Sly, concealed, provocative. Yes, that was the word. Looking at her now, she was a completely different person from the elaborately, over-dramatically dressed, cheerful, open individual she usually was. Derrick knew women, knew how to make anything seem like an accident, and yet she'd successfully manoeuvred herself time and time again away from his grasp as they danced without once breaking their gaze. Clearly there was more to her than met the eye.

A hand slammed on the tabletop, breaking him from his reverie. For a split second, he felt guilty that he'd been busy staring at another girl instead of attending to his date. Then he recollected that James had insisted that he come stag as well so that he wouldn't feel out of place. Not, he'd added, that he would, of course, but just in case. And there wasn't anyone worth asking anyway, right?

Right. Remus tore his gaze away from his Amazonian princess and returned to the matter at hand; preventing James from trying and inevitably failing to kill Kirke.

* * *

"You look really beautiful tonight, Lily," he said softly, sincerely, "It's okay if I call you Lily, right? Or is that a little too intimate?"

A little? She'd been asked to dance, she hadn't experienced a concussion or lost her wits. Who did this guy think he was? Oh yes. The infamous Johnson Kirke. And who was she? The infamous red head bookworm of Gryffindor. Now really, she deserved much more credit than this, but she decided she wouldn't ruin it. Not yet.

"It's fine," she replied lightly, mentally exaggerating the moment and ridiculing it.

Seeking distraction, she glanced at the staff table and, to her surprise, found it to be empty. Clearly they'd retired for the night and instructed the prefects to take care of things of their behalf.

"Could I just… maybe…"

He let his hand sweep lightly across her cheek, caressing it tenderly before gently tilting her head upwards so that her eyes met his. To his surprise, they were green. A lush, deep emerald green. That was unusual, but very enticing. She was hailed as a rather intellectual individual, which made him want to laugh. A woman? Smart? It just meant she always had her head stuck in a book and hadn't experienced socialising with the opposite sex, which just made things easier. But it wouldn't hurt to enjoy this.

In his musings, he'd entirely missed the flicker of annoyance that flashed across Lily's otherwise dispassionate expression. How dare he give himself permission to touch her?

"Your eyes…" he murmured, "They're mesmerising… You could almost get lost in them… And you," he added, moving slightly closer without noticing her tense, "make a man feel like he wouldn't mind it."

Man? What man? Lily didn't feel at all as though there were any present for the moment. Especially seeing as James had just begun walking towards them. Figures. Birds of a feather, right? Maybe she should leave them to enjoy each other's company and share secrets like the most effective method of getting laid.

"Really?" she replied, forcing herself not to sound strained or annoyed or openly irritated in any manner. She was going to be on her best behaviour tonight.

From the corner of her eye, she zoned out of Johnson's mumblings of empty comments and diverted her attention with mounting interest to Remus, who had mysteriously forcibly pulled James back for some unknown reason. The two were currently engaged in a heated argument. A quick glance around the room told her that Aiko had also noticed and was watching with interest, though anyone who didn't know better would assume that she was absorbed in staring at the Slytherin.

"Prongs! What the hell do you think you're doing?" hissed Remus.

"How can you watch Kirke vulture in on another victim and stand by aimlessly without trying to help?" he shot back.

"How not? We do it all the time!"

"It's different this time!"

"Why? What's the difference? Why should Lily make a difference?"

"Because she's different! Because… Look, who said it was about her? I just don't want to see that arrogant prick screw over someone else!"

"Because you've cared every other time, clearly."

"Look, Moony," began James, heatedly now, "What…"

"What's happening?" piped Sirius cheerfully, coming to join them.

Remus subtly gestured towards the dancing couple in question and a look of immediate comprehension dawned.

"Ah, well about that, you see, Prongs… Prongs? What the…"

Preoccupied as she was with staring at the beginnings of a Marauder gathering, she'd entirely forgotten about her dance partner. That is, of course, until she felt him nuzzle at her neck, which alarmed her greatly and alerted her to their sudden closeness. His hand had moved from her shoulder to wrap round her upper back, pushing her body up tightly against his as the hand at her waist slid slowly downwards.

"Hey, what the…"

"Shh… Just relax, okay? You're in good hands," he hushed in what he clearly imagined to be a soothing and sensuous tone.

Clearly Lily did not share his sentiments. Especially not as he began placing kisses up her neck, each one more insistent than the last. The more she struggled, the tighter he held her to him, and she could, she rather uncomfortably admitted to herself, feel _him_ pressed against her. In her discomfort, she seemed to have forgotten how to scream, struggling more fervently instead, but feeling only his growing desire to destroy her picturesque innocence, and her own sense of self, struggling, drowning, fading…

And suddenly she found herself free and falling, only to be caught in unfamiliar arms. Or familiar? She wasn't sure.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded James furiously, placing Lily gently on the floor behind him.

Kirke picked himself up and raised himself to his full height, towering over the fourth year who, Gryffindor courage and all, refused to give way.

"What I do doesn't seem to concern you in any way," he responded smoothly, barely concealing his rage. Who did this kid think he was?

"I don't think that applies when abuse is happening," he retorted sarcastically.

For the second time that night, a hush fell across the entire hall. Only this time, it was accompanied by whispered passing ons of what was happening. Johnson's eyes narrowed. This kid was starting to annoy him. What did he mean by interrupting affairs that didn't concern him in any way?

"Is there a problem here, Kirke?" interrupted a silky female voice.

He stiffened and turned around to face Ashley standing before him, the Head Boy standing casually beside her and Richard behind them, assisting Lily off the ground.

"Not at all," he finally responded valiantly, before slinking back to his table, where he found his date seated with jealousy and resentment written across her face, but none of it directed to where it should've resided.

"Thank you," mumbled Lily as she allowed herself to be helped off the floor.

A wave of her hand placated her friends, who'd finally managed to penetrate the crowd that had gathered around and only just dispersed. Cherie and Aiko, glancing at each other, simultaneously stepped back to give her some room.

"I'm not the one you should be thanking," he remarked, amused.

Lily followed his gaze to the untamed mass of black hair and stubborn expression who was currently getting a lashing (and, mind you, admiration) from his fellow Marauders. For a moment, she hesitant and turned to her friends.

"Must I?" she asked, all trace of her usual mature self disappearing into thin air.

Her friends nodded with great conviction and she sighed. Instinctively, she reached for their hands and, just as readily, found her friends had reached out for her.

"Don't worry."

"You'll be fine."

Nodding, she let go and walked towards the one person she had been busy erasing from her memory for the past few days. Ironically, if it wasn't for him, she'd probably have been subjected to an even more damaging experience than this had already proved itself to be.

"Hey, Potter."

Sirius, Remus and Peter stopped, turned, saw her, and parted. James blinked in surprise at having been addressed. It had been, after all, quite a few days since he'd last heard her voice, even in class.

"Yeah?"

She paused. She hesitated. She tried to look at him, but found herself unable to meet his eye. How do you thank the one person you've been planning to murder for half a week? The emotional transition hadn't quite kicked in yet, but she knew that if it wasn't for him, her life would be somewhat incomplete. This brought a jarring halt to her train of thought. Her life? No, that wasn't right. What she'd meant to say was, if it wasn't for him, something might've happened that would've left her incomplete. That was it. Well, more incomplete than she already felt. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to look at him and refused to look away, not realising at any moment that the scrawny boy before him had been holding his breath throughout her entire thought process.

"Thank you."

Blushing profusely, he tried to act nonchalant and shrugged it off, looking away from her to the walls, the vines, the couples, anywhere but at her. He couldn't place, describe or identify what he was feeling; he just knew he didn't want to look at her in case _she_ knew what he was feeling. Mildly confused at his response, she concluded that it was just a Potter thing and made to return to her friends.

"Hey!"

She paused and turned to look inquiringly at him.

"It's James."

She blinked blankly. What? Then it registered. James. James Henry Potter. Right. Got it. She nodded her acknowledgement.

"Alright… James."

On either side, friends silently exchanged high fives and triumphant looks. And so the games had officially begun.


	7. Chapter 7

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter seven

Despite the commotion that the Yule ball had brought about, Ciara had been right, but not, perhaps, in the way she'd imagined it would be. The ball had closed that night with a thank you gift from Aiko to the Marauders, with a little assistance from two particular fourth year girls who'd never own up to it. As one must understand, a thank you gift from either of the parties, particularly to one another, almost never results in any good.

"_Hey."_

_The Marauders, seated at their table after a long night's worth of dancing, looked up. The voice was familiar, but it rarely addressed them in any tone other than angry. Most of the older students had left to wander the gardens magically supplied by their professors, and almost all the forth years had retired to their dorms or other various locations across the school to continue their rendezvous. Felicity and her clique had allowed themselves to be escorted outside by some seventh year males after discovering that the three Marauders were unlikely to courteously entertain them any further. The forth was nowhere to be found, and neither was the lovely Clarissa._

"_What do you want, Aiko?" asked James, eyebrow raised as Lily and Cherie joined her._

"_We just wanted to say we hope none of you are afraid of heights," she responded cheerfully._

_Frowning and about to ask precisely what she meant by that, sudden, consecutive yelps sounded from behind him and all three boys found themselves hanging from the ceiling of the hall._

"_What the… get us down now!"_

"_Oh dear! How in Merlin's name did that happen, Lily?"_

"_Oh dear! Perhaps my charm work isn't as precise as it should be."_

_Lily's charm work was _never_ imprecise, and everybody knew it. Including the boys loitering about the ceiling now hanging onto the vines for dear life._

"_Fine," growled Sirius, "We'll just get _ourselves_ down... Just… Well… Prongs will! Prongs, your wand!"_

"_Right h… It's not in my pocket. Remus?"_

_He hadn't bothered. Clearly if they'd thought to hang them amidst vines twenty feet off the ground, it stands to reason that they weren't about to keep them armed whilst doing so. Finding his position rather uncomfortable, he swung himself towards and seated himself on, the large chandelier, happily concluding that it was just his luck that it hadn't been merely an illusion._

"_Oh dear! It seems like they left their wands down here," gasped Cherie mock-despairingly, producing them from behind her back._

"_I'm feeling really tired. Maybe we should head back?"_

"_Yes, I think that would be a good idea."_

"_Good night," they chimed, waving cheerfully as they left the hall._

"_Well," remarked Remus contemplatively, "they did say they'd make us sorrier."_

_Sirius attempted to whip him with one of the hanging vines._

And there the rest of the school found them the next day.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

"Minerva, did you hear something?"

"Not at all."

"Captain!"

Richard sat down to his breakfast whistling very loudly and wearing a very broad grin.

So this continued until Professor McGonagall let them down, scolding them for larking about the ceiling the hall instead of having breakfast with the other students.

But back to our debutantes. They had returned to their usual selves and continued their daily routines as before. Except now people stopped to greet them, to woo them, to find something to dislike about them, and other such trifling details. By the end of the week, however, it was established that they were not about to offer Hogwarts the same services as Felicity, who was thus very secure in her social position, but it was also discovered that they were rather affable girls with a good sense of humour and ready wit, as well as a universal amiability that did them no harm. Thus they made friends and were finally acknowledged as being readily likeable people who were equally nice and lovely to all. Except, perhaps, the Marauders.

* * *

"Well… we've put it off until the very last moment. We go home next week. Shall we begin?"

"Wait! Just… before… Just in case anything… It was really fun being with you guys, the way we were."

Aiko kissed Cherie's hand reassuringly.

"Don't stress, okay? No matter what happens next, nothing will change the memories that we hold, whether happy or sad, funny or terrifying, okay?"

Lily nodded and smiled, hugging both of her friends briefly. For a flicker of a moment, it really did feel as though this was needed, as though, after this, perhaps… just perhaps… it really would be saying goodbye.

"So, we ready?"

Cherie and Aiko nodded. Clasping hands, the girls took a deep breath, and touched the opalescent butterfly charm that sat patiently for the girls to unlock their pasts.

* * *

"_So, you are the girl?"_

_She trembled with fear, struggling to hold that gaze, so strong, so dark, so utterly unhuman. She felt her father push her forward and stumbled, but quickly stood upright again. She would not crumble, she would not show him any weakness, none at all._

"_This is my daughter, my Lord."_

"_And the other?"_

_From the corner of her eye, she watched Lucius Malfoy step forward with an expression of terror that was similar to her own, but also a determination not to let his family down._

"_My son," came a smooth voice from behind Lucius that sent chills down her spine._

_The Malfoys were all the same. They all held that same expression of a mad desire for power concealed beneath a cold marble surface of disdain. Soon, Lucius too, would look exactly the same as his father._

"_Which shall you choose, my Lord?" queried a tall, dark haired stranger from behind the man whose name shot fear through the hearts of all wizards and witches across England._

_He looked at both contemplatively whilst slipping an arm around the stranger and pulling her beside him, nonchalantly caressing her figure beneath her robes. Black hair, deep brown eyes, with delicate facial features. She recognised her. The mother of Regulus Black. To the side, she witnessed a cloaked man tense, but remain otherwise motionless._

"_The girl."_

_She watched her father smile triumphantly as she was led towards the Dark Lord, willing her legs not to give way. She felt her mother feebly attempt to move forward to save her, only to be struck down by her father._

"_Now, now, Devereux, is that any way to treat a woman?"_

"_I am sorry, my Lord, but she occasionally acts out of line."_

"_Tut, tut. Women must be broken, Devereux, and if you cannot handle her," he paused, his lips twisting cynically, "Perhaps I need to take her off your hands."_

_She watched her father bow and say nothing in return. She watched her mother curl up slightly on the ground, but discovered that perhaps she herself was in more danger for the time being. She watched the knife slash her arms, the vial fill to the brim with bright red liquid, and fainted._

_

* * *

"__Mummy… Mummy? Mummy, what's wrong?" she called out softly, sleepily, as she approached her parents' bedroom._

_Sounds of muffled screaming coursed through the house. Petunia was away – her first ever slumber party. She had wanted to go too, but her sister had told her she needed to stay at home to look after mummy and daddy, and that if she was a good girl, she'd get a slice of cake when she came home._

_The door was open. She frowned. That was strange. Mummy usually kept the door shut when daddy wasn't home. She said it made her feel a little safer until daddy came home._

_There was panting and moaning now, as she moved closer, the sound of whimpering and crying, as she reached out for the door. Then, all noises stopped as the front door banged open. Daddy had come home. Then, the sound of struggling grew louder as Daddy made his way up, the stairs creaking beneath his weight. She peered cautiously into the room._

_What was mummy doing on the floor?_

_

* * *

"__Get off me!"_

"_Oh look, how precious, the little princess is trying to break free."_

_Harsh laughter sounded as they continued to ransack her home. They'd thrown her father and brothers into the room next door. The cowards! They had dared to dishonour the oldest of the noble traditions and attacked in a multitude of armed beasts during a one-on-one physical duel!_

_Her mother lay beside her, unconscious. Those lips, painted a deep red that complemented her pale skin against her black hair perfectly, usually spread into a smile that radiated warmth, were now stained with dried blood. She stroked the long, soft, silky black hair and willed the staggered breathing not to stop. _

_The last words she'd heard her mother say were, "The family heirloom." The beautiful bejewelled ornamental sheathed dagger that, even now, hung from a ribbon tied around her waist beneath her layered skirt._

_One stranger, concealed beneath a dark cloak, came up to her and leered. Coward! To ruin her household without revealing his identity. The acts of great dishonour and he dare revel in it? Had he no pride, no dignity?_

"_Close your eyes and imagine this, _Princess_."_

_He spat the word out with a distaste she had never heard it used with before, and proceeded to enter the room they'd held her father and brothers captive in._

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_

* * *

_

"_Mother!" she screamed, running up to her and wrapping her arms around the fragile shoulders, the broken arm, the pallid face, the laboured breathing._

"_Father, please, stop," she begged, tears falling down her cheek._

_Her father, drink in one hand and belt in the other, staggered, came forward, and threw her forcibly aside. She felt her head connect against the banister and the trickle of liquid that began to run down her neck._

_Suddenly, a figure emerged from the doorway._

"_Now, Devereux, what did I tell you?" tutted the stranger, leaning calmly against the doorframe._

_She watched her father squint blearily, then drop to one knee._

"_I apologise my Lord, you did not tell me you were coming today," he half slurred, half stuttered._

_The stranger tutted again, and throwing a sidelong glance at her that made her heart stop beating as though petrified, he moved out into the centre of the room._

"_It seems you are unable to keep your temper, Devereux," he remarked, moving over to her mother and scooping her up easily into his arms._

"_No!" she cried, and attempted to move forwards, but the blood still flowed and her world was beginning to spin._

_He raised an eyebrow and looked at her with an interest that made the world stop spinning and her limbs stop moving._

"_Take good care of our next generation, Devereux, or I may have to remove her from you custody as well, hmm?" he commented lightly, and disappeared._

_That was the last time she saw her mother, and it had been almost a year since._

_

* * *

_

_Biting her cheek, she knew what had to be done. She'd been underestimated. She was only eight after all, they didn't need magic to keep her. She wouldn't be able to do any harm even if she tried. They had left her beside an open window, unbound, knowing that, on the fourth floor of their palace, she could do nothing._

_As her mother's chest stopped moving, as the final screams of her brothers echoed through her heart, she knew she would be of no use here and the most important thing now was the family legacy, which she now carried in her tiny being._

_Knowing and understanding only this, she watched the strangers turn their backs on her to congratulate themselves and continue searching for the key to the ancient magic of the House of Jiang._

_And then she jumped._

"_Hey!"_

"_Leave it. It's the fourth floor. The kid just saved us the trouble of killing her ourselves."_

_Beneath her, a web of magic caught her and slowed her fall._

_And from there she'd been passed, loyal servant to loyal servant, only to find herself at a loss for anything to do. She was a family friend's daughter, they said, a daughter of a poor merchant who had just recently lost his life, can you spare some room in your house for her? She is a pretty little thing; why not take her to Madame's? That is no life for a girl so young to live._

_But there was no choice. It would afford her better money, better options. She would not have to rely on charity, on endangering these few kindly families who had opened up their homes to a complete stranger. She insisted on being taken there. She is young; she doesn't understand what she is doing. Once she begins, there can be no turning back. She will be tainted forever. Her life will be ruined._

_But they didn't understand. She has no future now._

_The make up, the hair, the glamour, the gowns, the study of dance, music, grace, and pleasure. The men who leered, who touched, who paid. And so she stayed alive._

"_The initiation leads to a life that can never be turned around and erased."_

_

* * *

__Their struggle had reached the kitchen. This she knew as she followed the trail of blood down the stairs. The blood that had stained the carpet indicated the path that her mother had been dragged along, tear-stained cheeks, matted hair, and shallow breathing. Blood. Blood everywhere._

_From the doorway she watched the struggle, watched as the stranger held knives in both hands that Daddy was striving to manoeuvre away from his throat. She watched as the stranger changed tact, dropped back, and brought the knife down straight through Mummy's stomach. She watched the final, glistening tear drops as Mummy took her last breath. She watched Daddy shout out in anguish and push the stranger away from Mummy. She watched the stranger drop the knife that landed within reach of her. She watched Daddy pick Mummy up and move towards the door. She watched the stranger get up._

_She saw the knife beside her. _

_She watched the stranger, this unknown man, throw himself at Daddy, watched him pull the knife from Mummy's body. She watched him move behind Daddy at an alarming speed._

_She saw the knife beside her._

_She saw Daddy brace himself for the attack. She saw the stranger plunge the knife into Daddy's shoulder. She watched him wrench it out. She heard Daddy's cry of pain._

_She saw the knife beside her._

_She watched the stranger stab at him. Again. And again. And again. She saw Daddy, holding Mummy tightly with as much strength as he could muster. She heard the distant wailing of sirens._

_She saw Daddy fall._

_She screamed, and everything went black._

_

* * *

_

In the Astronomy tower, a cool breeze wafted through the wide open window of a closed classroom. Inside, three girls sat, panting and sweating and feeling as though they would die of their anguish.

They had forgotten that projecting memories meant projecting what you see, and everything you did and felt. Thrice they experienced the woes and deep sufferings of one another, and thrice they were made to endure the mental abuse that they had suffered consecutively.

This was how the Marauders, laughing and planning their next prank as they finally managed to unlock the door and stumble inside, found them. They glanced uneasily at one another, having discovered the very three girls they were planning to humiliate, all lying on the floor motionless but for heavy breathing, faces contorted with pain and trembling limbs, in a locked classroom. More specifically, the Astronomy tower, which was renowned for its intimate purposes amongst students.

"You don't think they've been…" begun Peter uneasily.

"Wormtail, run for Madame Pomfrey, we'll carry them down," barked James, scooping up Lily.

Peter obeyed without a second thought, James only seconds behind him.

Sirius' logic told him that they were definitely going to be blamed for this fiasco, especially without any witnesses, but his Gyffindor spirit swooped up the semi-unconscious Cherie as swiftly as he could without hurting her, and tore through the hallway, Remus in tow with Aiko's arms about his neck. As he felt the tears flow against his shoulder and dampen his shirt, he held her tighter and ran even faster.

They raced through the halls without any regard for their aching limbs, the screams of physical exhaustion that coursed through their body, adrenaline pumping from fear and desperation. For all they knew, lives were at stake.

Lily's breathing began to quicken, slowly at first, then faster and faster. James held her closer and unthinkingly pressed his lips to her cloud of copper curls, slightly damp with sweat and tears, though whether from him or her he could not tell. The gasping slowly began to subside, but did not return anywhere close to normal.

_Please let her be okay._

As they reached the Hospital wing, each boy set their bundle onto the designated beds and collapsed with exhaustion as they finally felt their muscles protest and begin to cramp up. Wheezing in pain, they thought of nothing but the importance of restoring their rivals to their original glory and wonder as Peter attempted desperately to force feed them the revival potions that Madame Pomfrey had thrown his way in passing.

As the nurse bustled about, separating her time out evenly between the three girls, and analysing them in turn, she frowned. How had this happened? They had fallen to a dangerous state of great mental peril, and had still astonishingly managed to maintain part of their muscle control, if the strength with which they held onto their possessions was anything to go by.

Clasped tightly in each curled fist resided an opalescent butterfly charm.

* * *

Guess what guess what guess what??? I'm 18! And I'm still writing mediocre fanfiction pieces that nobody feels at all inclined to read. Interesting past time, don't you think?

- Winteresque


	8. Chapter 8

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter eight

"Well I hope you've learnt your lesson now," scolded the frowning nurse.

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," they chorused, not for the first time.

Or even the first hundred times, in fact.

"… I don't know what you were thinking, mixing magic like that… Could've gotten yourselves killed! There is a reason why spells are made separately and combining charms is taught only in senior years… Must've been because of your success at the Ball… Don't think you'll always be lucky enough to escape with your lives! How in Merlin's name you could've… Well it's beyond me… Kids my day…"

And she went on and on and on and on and _on_. And indeed, Lily, Cherie and Aiko all felt truly sorry for everything that they'd done. They should've been more careful and researched any potential side effects that might've occurred to prevent being placed in the nurse's care for a week. They glanced feebly at each other and cast one another weak smiles.

For a moment, Madame Pomfrey caught this and sighed. They'd experienced a severe case of emotional exhaustion that nearly killed them. It had destabilised their mental capacity and almost caused their entire system to shut down. Nothing like that could've been produced by attempting to combine glamour and transfiguration charms, no matter what they said, but she'd let it slide. Sometimes it was better to leave things as they were than pry where it was undesirable.

There was a knock on the door and three sheepish-looking expressions appeared as the door opened slightly.

"Is it okay to visit yet, Madame Pomfrey?"

She huffed and gave them an annoyed look that, as a nurse, was quite simply mandatory and really meant nothing, which they knew. They were, after all, very well acquainted with the Hospital Wing, whether from a prank, or a Quidditch accident, an occasional fist fight, or even Remus' "furry little problem" which everyone took to mean a particularly vicious hamster kept under his bed. She walked away and they took that as consent.

"So…"

"Hi…"

"We were just…"

"I suppose we should…"

"You go first," they chimed together, and blushed simultaneously.

Finally, Lily cleared her throat.

"I'd just like to say on our behalf," she began, motioning to Cherie and Aiko respectively, "that we really appreciate your helping us."

"You better be! We were being sent death glares for half a week because none of you would wake up and nobody could prove that we didn't have anything to do with it!" interrupted Sirius, but stopped when Lily raised an eyebrow at him and James stepped on his foot very, very hard.

"Especially because you chose to brave through all the stigma that you must've experienced these past few days instead of abandoning us," she continued.

"We're Gryffindors!" exclaimed James, offended and bewildered that anyone would imagine that they might have left three defenceless girls in pain to their own devices.

"_And_ _especially_," she pressed on, "because it was right after publicly humiliating you all, and so thank you. From all of us," she finally concluded, a little hurriedly to prevent any more interruptions.

"I'm sorry about stringing your bed sheets across the hall," added Aiko.

"And I'm sorry for making you stress about your homework because I filled your ink well with the disappearing ink that vanishes only after you've finished writing with it," added Cherie, "But it came back an hour later!"

"And I'm sorry for not admitting that it was me, and not you guys, who let the gerbils loose during dinnertime."

"And most importantly," finished Cherie, looking Sirius straight in the eye, "I'm sorry I made you reveal what happened with January."

He looked at her in mild surprise, gauged her expression, then nodded.

"Forgiven."

"On all counts," added Remus.

"Except the homework! I'd written half a new essay before it reappeared!" complained James, but he was smiling, and soon they were smiling back.

"But," he continued, serious now, "we did come here to apologise, and I know that it doesn't seem like we really mean it, especially seeing as we're not all here, but we're speaking on behalf of Peter as well."

"We're sorry for hitting below the belt and making you relive unwanted experiences," began Sirius, looking very guilty indeed.

"And I'm sorry for prying into personal matters I'm not supposed to and saying things I really shouldn't," said James directly to Lily, who nodded in turn.

She was in no mood to hold grudges. Her head was still feeling dizzy and all these apologies were beginning to make her want to crawl back under her covers.

"And we promise not to try and publicise things that shouldn't be voiced aloud ever again," added Remus, staring pointedly at his friends.

"Don't worry about. All in the past, ne?" queried Aiko cheerfully, glancing at her friends. Was it? Everything? _Absolutely_ everything? Or would everything change now? Would they be repelled by her double life, her shameful lifestyle?

They caught it and understood. Lily bit her lip. Would they accept her for being the coward that she was, for not picking up the knife? For not saving her family? Cherie tugged at her blonde curls, hesitant. She was from a dark family, she existed in a world that could entirely engulf her if she didn't do what she was told – would they hate her for succumbing to family expectations over doing what's right? She looked hesitantly at Sirius. Could she be as brave as him one day?

"Definitely," responded Lily firmly, grasping their hands.

"Definitely," reiterated Cherie with a smile as she held on tighter.

There was no need to vocally express sympathy, no need to communicate their understanding in any way, shape or form. They'd all experienced it, and they all understood one another's pain acutely and, in doing so, knew instinctively that this had only revealed the secrets that they'd sought to protect long before knowing precisely what it was they strove to conceal.

The three Marauders exchanged looks of confusion. Since when had it become a matter between the three girls themselves? Finally realising that their behaviour was probably being noted as a little odd, they sprang away from one another and laughed a little nervously.

"Anyway," James finally said, loudly, to break up the tension, "We saw the charms in your hands."

They tensed. What did they know?

"So we concluded that they were probably really important," continued Remus.

Did they see? Did they know? Had they found out?

"And, as a gift of apology, we got you these, free of charge," finished Sirius cheerfully, as each boy revealed a silver bracelet from behind his back.

"The additional charms are also free of charge," added James with a grin, handing his to Lily.

They stared, speechless. There were five charms, four moulded into the shape of the faces of every one of the Marauders. Well, what could you say to that?

"Um… Thank you… I think?" replied Lily at length with a hesitant smile of amusement.

As they claimed their gifts, each girl gasped in surprise as the charms remoulded themselves. Or, in Aiko's case, "Nyaa!"

"We picked them out especially," mentioned Remus shyly, "So we hope you like them."

"They're lovely, Remus, thank you," replied Lily with a smile of absolute sweetness.

"And we added stuff to them!" added James quickly, not wanting that smile for himself, of course, just… just… attention! That was all.

"So you know, in case you guys ever keel over again, just tap the wolf charm three times so we know to bring witnesses before we come to get you," said Sirius, grinning.

"And the mouse acts as a tracker so we know _where_ to find you," added James.

The girls raised their eyebrows at this.

"Nothing sus! I promise!" he added hastily, "And the dog for communication purposes with each other."

Who needs owls when you have bracelet charms, right?

"The stag one was the most expensive. I'm telling you, this was a pain to prepare, so you guys better appreciate this. It should be used for emergencies only. If you pull it off, it turns into a small dagger, just in case you guys get… you know…"

Sirius trailed off and the three boys started blushing again.

"So what's the last one for?" asked Aiko cheerfully.

"Oh what? Well… It was buy five charms each or nothing, so we just picked any random ones we thought you guys might like," mumbled James, trying very hard and failing miserably to look nonchalant, "I picked yours," he added, addressing Lily.

"An apple? That's very sweet of you, thank you, James."

She was talking to him! And smiling! And she called him James! And sweet! He blushed harder and looked away, mumbling an incoherent response.

"Cherries! Thank you!" squealed Aiko, engulfing Remus in a hug which made him turn bright red, but with embarrassment or suffocation nobody was certain.

"Why strawberries?" she asked.

Sirius shrugged.

"Your hair I guess," he replied, then an impish grin grew on his face, "So do I get a thank you hug too?"

Cherie hesitated for a moment, then quickly leaned in and pecked him on the cheek before resuming her seat, head down, hair covering her face entirely. Sirius blinked in surprise. For the first time in his life since his first kiss, he'd blushed from being kissed. He stared at her in amazement, then finally decided it must be due to her innocence.

Beside them, Remus and Aiko now stood, motionless, her head lying against his shoulder, both with an expression of bewilderment. What was this feeling, so familiar, so real, and yet, it hadn't happened before, had it? And yet… and yet she felt so calm, though beneath her hand she felt his heartbeat quicken and she smiled to herself. Cool, collected, mature Remus, huh?

"So…"

"Don't even think about it," Lily responded primly.

"I wasn't going to," James returned quickly, "who'd want to be hugged by you?"

"Good."

"Good."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then both moved towards one another in complete synch and engaged in an embrace that, to the confusion of both parties, left them almost unwilling to let go. They quickly detached themselves and resumed their original positions.

"Thank you," she finally mumbled.

"Huh?"

"The bracelet. Thank you."

He shrugged and averted his eyes. He'd almost imagined she'd meant something else. She couldn't shake off the feeling that she might've.

"You're welcome."

* * *

"Albus, surely you aren't going to bring this up again," she insisted, twisting her handkerchief nervously in her hands.

"I'm afraid we must, Minerva."

"Surely the Order does not need to deal with such information, not yet. It would be searching for a needle in a haystack. What use is this magic to him, where could it be found? There would be no way of seeking to prevent it!" she murmured fervently as they swept down the hallway together.

"The Order must be made aware of all possibilities, Minerva, to be prepared, even if it is preparation solely to brace ourselves against irreparable damage," he responded.

She put a hand to her forehead. If he continued to mention this ancient magic, she felt she might age decades overnight. Adjusting themselves suitably, they opened the doors and entered the halls for the fifth year since that dreaded possibility of an awakening of ancient magic had been announced. As they walked to their seats, she cast a glance across the hall, and watched the new set of nervous first years enter. All this youth, this vibrant energy, this untapped potential. How many of them would never get the opportunity to grow up, to experience life, to discover love, marriage, a family? But for now, within the walls of Hogwarts, they were safe from the world of terror that awaited them.

Right?

* * *

It would be forever remembered by them as the Year of Absolute Misery. Bordering on their sweet sixteenth, teenage angst ravaged at their hearts and ate away at friendships. Tempers often got the better of common sense. Secrets were revealed, discoveries were made, many of them very undesirable indeed.

Cherie and Aiko huddled in the library corner together, talking in low, concerned whispers.

"Did she do it again last night?"

"Yeah. Whatever it is that's calling her, it's getting stronger. She almost made it past the portrait this time. If she goes any further, we won't be able to take her back to the dorm room in time."

"Well apparently muggles experience sleep walking spells and the like… But I suppose it's just wishful thinking to hope that there's nothing more to it than that, right?"

Cherie nodded gravely, instinctively clutching at her arm. She had not received the mark of death yet, but it had been because He had requested that she remain pure, untainted and chaste. She was important, but nobody knew why. The important thing, however, was that she was under His protection and the Slytherins would never dare to harm her lest it displeased Him. There had been talk of ancient magic rituals, of infiltrating Hogwarts, of murder. She didn't want Lily to be unconsciously roaming about, and yet they could do nothing to prevent it from happening short of tying her down.

"I suppose the only way we can make sure she stays safe is if we follow her," murmured Aiko thoughtfully.

They had given up hope of believing it to be just a prank. The Marauders had seemed entirely confused when they'd mentioned it.

"She can't keep this up though," insisted Cherie nervously, "You saw how she was today. She's absolutely exhausted! She looks ready to collapse and she can't comprehend why. All she keeps saying is that she has bad dreams."

"Maybe we should go see the Divinations teacher," joked Aiko weakly, earning herself a somewhat grimly amused smile from Cherie.

It wasn't just Lily. Aiko and Cherie, too, had begun to fade into a shadow of themselves. Nobody questioned it – Everybody was studying for exams. No doubt they were probably just overstressed. Countless kindly words had been given to them by older students who continued to remind them that the exams weren't everything and that it was important to get some rest. It had been borne with good grace and genuine thanks, but didn't solve their dilemma.

"Should we go see…"

"No, best not to turn this into too big a deal as of yet," replied Aiko, walking out of the library, Cherie in tow, "It might all turn out to be nothing yet."

As they made their way down the hall, a movement caught their eye and, sharing a glance, they made their way over towards the commotion.

"… Really now? Think you're so brave, huh?" hissed a strangely familiar voice, "Well if you think you're prepared to understand the true meaning of fear, show up at the Whomping Willow during the full moon sometime then!"

"Sirius!" barked another figure, authoritatively but softly, "That's enough! There's nothing there!"

There was no missing the tone of warning in James' voice. Sirius stopped talking, but shoved the third and final character at the scene again a wall and allowed him to fall to the ground in a crumpled mess of blood and bruising.

"That was uncalled for, Padfoot!" snapped James angrily, "What if he goes? What'll happen to Moony? How is he going to deal with this? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking," responded Sirius miserably, "I'm sorry, Prongs."

James rubbed at his forehead and sighed in frustration. Sometimes his friend became too hot headed and said things he really shouldn't. With any luck, Snape would ignore the comment completely. After all, as far as anyone knew, the Whomping Willow in itself was a fearful creation, and the Slytherins had never been known for their courage.

Cherie and Aiko glanced at each other. Moony was Remus. But what did the Whomping Willow have to do with the full moon? Aiko shrugged her shoulders, communicating to Cherie that it was nothing that concerned them, especially as they had bigger problems to deal with. It was almost dinnertime, and then they would have to work out what to do with Lily.

* * *

The dorm room door creaked open and the two girls exchanged knowing glances as they slipped out of bed after Lily. Occasionally, they would watch the supposedly unconscious figure pause, hesitate, and struggle as though against unseen forces.

"Come," whispered the voice unheard by any other, "Come."

And Lily obeyed, as two shadows snuck about quietly behind her, watching her from a safe distance. They watched her leave the Gryffindor tower, watched her make her way dazedly through the halls, watched her make her way down to the underground level of the school, and watched her reach the kitchen. There she stopped, as if struggling with herself for a moment, before tickling the pear and entering. The other two girls slipped in behind her. They watched the eyes that looked about searchingly, but without seeing. Then, slowly, with a great sense of resistance, she reluctantly reached the kitchen top before an assortment of knives. Gradually, she reached out.

Cherie gave a muffled cry as she attempted to move towards her friend, but Aiko had withdrawn them further into the shadows, one hand covering her friend's mouth, the other wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Lily!"

The red head blinked and, startled out of her reverie, her hand dropped as she turned around in surprise. Then, out of thin air, Sirius and James appeared, earning themselves a squeal of astonishment. Sirius was grinning, but James was not.

"Lily. What are you doing here?" he asked, more serious than they had ever seen him before as he turned around with a greater sense of aggravation, "And you two! Why didn't you try to stop her? She could've hurt herself!"

Aiko released Cherie and stepped out, Cherie timidly in tow. Lily looked from one pair to the other. What was happening? Stop who from doing what? Why was she here? As James continued to yell heatedly at Aiko, who indicated that she had _stopped_ Cherie from doing anything, the jumble of words were slowly beginning to take shape in her head.

"James, shut up!" she snapped finally, irritated by the loud noise and gestures, "Stop yelling at them!"

James gaped, slack jawed. He'd just _saved_ her and she was telling _him_ off?

"He's only concerned about you!" put in Sirius, coming to his friend's defence.

Lily ignored him and instead concentrated on her friends, who exchanged rather guilty glances. Their body language told her that this was another something that should be kept solely within their private circle. She turned to James.

"Thank you for your concern, James," she said lightly, "I'm sorry if anything has disrupted your mood. Cherie, Aiko, let's go."

Obediently, they followed after her, leaving James and Sirius to stare after them in utter bewilderment and trepidation. What had Lily been doing? Why hadn't her friends tried to stop her? What was going on?

* * *

Worst chapter yet... Consider it a filler?

- Winteresque


	9. Chapter 9

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter nine

"Speak. Now," she commanded.

Exchanging glances, Cherie nodded and Aiko related, rather succinctly, the events of the past few nights.

"We've tried to stop it from happening, but it doesn't seem to work," added Cherie, frowning.

"We put a binding spell on you but it just disappeared like… like… like magic!"

"And we slipped dreamless sleeping potions in your food."

"And…"

"Stop!" she finally cried, putting a hand to her forehead, "Please stop incriminating yourselves and if anything like this ever happens again, for goodness sake _please_ just _tell_ me about it instead of putting strange substances into my food without my knowing!"

"We didn't want you to worry!" insisted Aiko.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," they mumbled sheepishly.

Lily's annoyance softened.

"Look, I know you meant well," she began, taking the hands of her friends, "But I would really appreciate it if you could just tell me directly when something's wrong instead of trying to go behind my back to solve it, okay?"

They nodded obediently.

"Good. So what was Po… James talking about?"

The guilty pair in question exchanged another hesitant look.

"You went down to the kitchen…" began Cherie.

"I gathered that," replied Lily somewhat sarcastically, mentally berating herself for not keeping her temper in check.

"And you made towards the kitchen knives…"

"Cherie would've stopped you if I hadn't pulled her back," supplied Aiko quickly.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Why did you do that?"

They fell silent, waiting. Why had Aiko reacted the way she did?

"I didn't want her to get hurt," she mumbled reluctantly.

"And why would she have gotten hurt?"

Another pause as trepidation filled the atmosphere. The anticipated and simultaneously undesired response hung, unspoken, for just that little while longer.

"Your aura… it radiated intent to kill."

Cherie attempted nervously to laugh it off.

"Not that we thought you would, of course. You know Aiko and her silly gut feelings about auras and whatnot…"

Her voice trailed away into nothingness. Yes they did know Aiko's uncanny ability to detect a person's emotions. They also knew that she was very rarely wrong.

"Well then," remarked Lily, clearing her throat, "What do we propose to do about my situation?"

"Lily… when you're dreaming… What is it that you see?" asked Cherie, a sudden expression of seriousness flickering across her otherwise serene expression.

Lily shuddered.

"That night."

Cherie and Aiko didn't need to know anymore to decipher what Lily was speaking of – they'd experienced it too, in her eyes.

* * *

"Moony…"

"What's wrong, Prongs? You haven't been yourself lately," commented Remus, putting down his homework and concentrating on his friend.

"There's something… Something we neglected to tell you," he started haltingly.

"And that would be…?"

James stole a quick glimpse at his friend, the embodiment of calm mannered mildness, a quick mind, and a heart of gold. The streaks of grey in his hair weren't a fashion statement, as the rest of the school had assumed, the air of loftiness wasn't to produce any kind of image, the dark circles beneath his eyes weren't from secret rendezvous, and the injuries were certainly not the battle scars he'd acquired during gang wars. Of all people, why did it have to be him?

"Nevermind."

Remus frowned. Something was up, he could feel it. He just couldn't place what precisely was wrong.

"Prongs," he uttered warningly.

"It's just… just…"

"Just what?"

At that moment, Sirius walked through the door.

"Just that Sirius here has been having some girl troubles and I have no idea how to help him remedy it," he explained a little too quickly.

But it worked, whether temporarily or otherwise. Remus's expression softened, although the wariness never left his gaze entirely.

"Is that all? What's wrong then, Padfoot?"

Sirius blinked in confusion and swallowed his mouthful of stolen chocolate frogs.

"What?"

* * *

The screaming, the struggling, the crying.

_Where am I?_

The knife fell to the ground, stained with blood. Blood, blood, everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

_Drink? Blood? What?_

Her father collapsed, a scream sounded, splitting across the night sky like a knife, a dagger, an implement with a sharpened side. Like the one that sat beside her.

The knife.

She stared at it as the murderer before her lay, panting, heaving, watching her with a careless glint of malice in his eyes. Would she be next?

Her chubby little fingers trembled as she watched him get up and, turning to smile at her once more, kicked the bodies of Mummy and Daddy. Again. And again. And again.

"_No… Stop… please," the voice inside her head sobbed, "Leave them alone. Don't hurt them."_

_The stranger smiled maliciously._

"_Don't worry, little girl, they can't feel anything anymore."_

When the police arrived, they found the body of the culprit lying on the floor in a pool of blood. His face was contorted with horror and terror almost beyond identification, his body twisted and splayed out on the kitchen floor. The eyes, now glassy and cold, gazed, open. A knife had been run directly through his heart with an inhuman strength.

Beside him lay the corpses of the family in question. But no, there were only two. They lay together, holding each other peacefully, a little girl passed out between them. Further examination discovered that she'd experienced a concussion of some sort, having fainted away long ago. Without the blood, the matted hair, the shredded clothing, the hard tiles of the kitchen floor, it looked almost like a picture perfect family sleeping amongst one another in perfect quiescence.

Lily felt herself scream and bolted upright on her bed, shivering, panting, shaking with fear. But no. This wasn't her bed. She glanced around as she heard footsteps running towards her.

What was she doing in the dungeons?

* * *

"There's only two days left," commented Sirius, attempting and failing miserably to sound unconcerned and uncaring.

James made no reply as his friend shuffled about, clearly anxious, and even more clearly unwilling to seem as such. Finally, he set down his pen.

"Sirius, stop moving," he commanded.

Sirius stopped pacing.

"Whatever happens will happen. We can't change that now."

Sirius moaned despairingly, grasping onto James' shoulders and shaking him violently.

"What happens if he does show up? What if Moony's secret comes out? What if he never forgives me?"

"If Snape does show up, nobody will believe what he says anyone. It's Snape. Who listens to Snape?"

"What if he gets hurt? Or killed? Then what? What if…"

"We'll be there so he won't. And don't you _dare_ mention that possibility to Moony – you know how sensitive he is about these things. If he gets a little bruised, we laugh at him for traversing the woods when he shouldn't be."

"What if Snivellus gets turned into a werewolf too? Then what? What'll happen after that? Then everybody will know, and it'll be all my fault, and…"

"Sirius!" snapped James impatiently, "First of all, Moony isn't exactly a Pureblood so he _can't_ turn other people into werewolves even if he _wanted_ to, remember? And even if he did, do you honestly think Snape is going to prance around proclaiming to the world that he's become a werewolf?"

Sirius slumped, guilt eating at him as he felt himself drown in the desperate sorrow of knowing that he could potentially result in the ruination of his friend's entire future all because he was a silly prat who spoke too much about things he shouldn't.

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

"Yes you are," affirmed James, returning to his essay.

* * *

"It's getting stronger," came the worried remark.

"Yeah, this time she fought back. With all her strength, I might add," returned Aiko, bandaging the deep gash she'd acquired on her arm with her teeth.

"How did that happen?" asked Lily shakily, leaving the bathroom to join her friends, face and hair soaked with water.

"Oh, I was just careless," she replied quickly.

Too quickly. Lily looked at Cherie, clearly demanding answers.

"You pushed Aiko back against one of the guard statues and she cut herself on it," admitted Cherie, extremely unwillingly.

Lily sighed, covering her face with her hands in despair, seating herself heavily on her bed.

"This is getting dangerous," she whispered, "Maybe we should go to the Professors…"

"But that would mean telling them about… the past. Are you okay with that?"

Lily buried her face deeper into her hands.

"I don't know," she groaned, the sound muffled into an incoherent cry of pain.

* * *

"Where's Remus gone?" asked Frank, Alice's arm clasped about his.

"His mother's illness took a really bad turn last night," explained James.

Frank nodded understandingly. He'd met Remus' mother and knew of her frailty. It was all due to that horrible encounter with the werewolf King himself. It had cost her the lives of her brother and an unborn child. If it hadn't been for Remus' father and the auroras who came afterwards, the whole social gathering that day would surely have perished. Ever since, she'd suffered from poor health and it was evident that, particularly judging the increasingly weary expressions of her husband himself, she would not last much longer.

"Isn't it odd that he always leaves without taking his belongings with him though," commented Alice thoughtfully, having just left the boy's dormitory.

James tensed at this and mentally prepared himself for any questions that might follow it. He'd only be gone a few days, it was fine. He left in a hurry. He was too lazy to pack and unpack. No, Remus was never lazy.

"Silly," replied Frank in a light, teasingly patronising voice, "He's going home! Why would he need to take anything with him? He _has_ everything there already!"

"Oh yeah, silly me," she responded, giggling, and, waving, they left James to himself.

His heartbeat slowed and his muscles relaxed. Now why hadn't he thought of that? He'd never been good at being dishonest.

"So how is Remus?"

James jumped, startled out of his reverie. Aiko gave him a look that told him he was acting rather abnormally.

"What? There's nothing wrong with Remus," he insisted pressingly.

"Relax," replied Aiko, arching an eyebrow, "I was just asking after his welfare. You know, with his mother ill so often. It can't be good for his mental wellbeing."

In that moment, it struck her as curious that his mother _was_ so ill so often. Maybe there was something else to it? But, she considered, contemplating her own situation, it might not be something he wanted to share, and, consequently, dismissed it from her thoughts until further notice.

"Oh right. He's fine. I mean, obviously not _fine_, because, you know, his mother's ill and all, and who would be fine in that case, right? I mean, if your mother fell ill you wouldn't be fine either, right? But he's fine. As in, not _fine_, but you know…"

She nodded vaguely and disappeared to join her friends, leaving a blustering James behind, almost as confused about her sudden turn of disposition as to the string of incoherent words that had just flowed out of his mouth and fallen over one another. Aiko, on the other hand, hadn't heard half of what he'd said, having spaced out the moment he'd mentioned her mother.

James, breathing a sigh of relief, looked up to see Lily, who'd become a shadow of her former self. The hair was bedraggled, the eyes were sunken, and the movements were slowed, fatigued. He mused over this for a moment, wondering, almost jealously, whether it had anything to do with a boy.

* * *

"Have you thought this through?"

Lily nodded and forced herself to smile, reaching out for Cherie's hand.

"Don't worry, okay? You and Aiko seem more stressed than me! It's my burden to share, and, just right now, I can't afford accidentally killing my two best friends during their first ever major exams at Hogwarts," she joked lightly.

"So tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow," replied Lily firmly.

"Well then at least we only have to spend one last sleepless night tonight and then we'll be free of you tomorrow!" she remarked smilingly, earning herself a light slap on the wrist.

"I thought that was what friends were for!"

Just then, a rather harassed looking Aiko banged the portrait behind her, and seated herself by the window in a flurry of irritation without looking at her friends once.

"Aiko?" asked Lily hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" she questioned softly.

"Positive," affirmed the light nodding of sprightly copper curls.

For a moment there was a long silence.

"I'm sorry we couldn't protect you," she mumbled rather miserably.

They had spent hours and hours pouring over books in the library to find nothing. Short of breaking into the restricted section, there was nothing left that they could uncover. Lily offered the back turned to her a small resigned smile.

"It's the thought that counts. You know I appreciate your efforts. Both of you."

Aiko continued to stare moodily outside. Lily and Cherie glanced anxiously at one another. They understood, of course. They always solved each other's problems. They were always able to come up with solutions, to conceal what needed to be concealed, to protect one another without relying on anybody else. Until this very moment in time.

"The full moon looks beautiful tonight."

Lily and Cherie nodded their agreement.

* * *

"Wormtail! Are you ready?" whispered a voice urgently.

A muffled affirmative sounded as Peter struggled to put on his jumper, only to become entirely tangled up in a mess of fabric and sleeves in his haste. James instinctively pulled it into its proper position and ushered his friend under the cloak.

"Now remember! Don't transform until I tell you to!"

"It's not the first time we've done this, Prongs, you don't have to be so strict. It's not Quidditch training," retorted Sirius, though his expression was pallid and there was barely a visible trace of his usual good humour.

James silenced him with a glower and together, the three boys made their way down to the common room only to discover, to their surprise, that Lily had beat them to it.

"Li…"

Sirius clamped a hand over the mouth of his friend and gave him a look of warning. They were under the invisibility cloak, remember? James nodded and restrained himself as, moments later, she was followed by Lily and Cherie, who watched after her warily. They boys exchanged looks of mild surprise. What were they doing? Nevermind, they had their own problems to worry about now.

"Do you hear something?" asked Aiko, frowning.

The boys paused, hearts racing. Cherie stopped thoughtfully. Yes, she had thought she'd heard footsteps as well, but who knew? Maybe it was just a pair of lovers. In the dead of the night? Perhaps not. Either way, it was best not to risk it.

"No," she replied nonchalantly, signing to Aiko a very loud yes with the secret hand gestures that the three of them shared.

The message was clear. Something was up, and even if it might turn out to be nothing, best be on the lookout. Aiko nodded and they quickened their pace, eager to catch up to their friend. The boys finally felt themselves exhale.

Down the stairs they went, further and further until they reached the ground level. Then Lily did something that she'd never done before. She headed for the door. Cherie and Aiko exchanged hesitant glances. Should they try to stop her now? Cherie nodded and they moved to either side of her friend. Lily paused and gave a chilly smile entirely alien from her usual sense. Then, without warning, she produced her wand and the two girls went flying.

They landed, Cherie crying out with as minimal amount of noise as the pain would allow, Aiko landing on her hands and feet. She ran to Cherie and helped her up as Peter struggled to keep hold of his friends who were even now struggling to leave the vicinity of the cloak.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. She's become more aware tonight. Whatever's got a hold on her, it's a lot stronger than it was before."

Aiko frowned.

"It must be the full moon. Even those silly muggle fairytales are based on some partial truths. The Dark Art _is_ much stronger during this time because it's deeply rooted in ancient magic."

James and Sirius stopped struggling and the three boys looked at each other knowingly. It could be due the full moon, but more importantly, Hogwart's barriers were always let down during this time for Remus' sake.

"Who's there? Come out!" demanded Aiko, whirling around.

Cherie stood up and warily scanned the room. As far as the eye could tell, there was nobody there. The three Marauders remained still as statues.

"Should we cast an anti-glamour spell to see if anybody's there?"

Cherie shook her head. It would be a waste of time. Whether or not they discovered who was lurking in the shadows, they still needed to keep track of their friend. Instead, she motioned that they should just continue to follow Lily, who had already walked almost to the edge of the lake. Realising this, the two girls left at a running pace.

Breathing again, the boys glanced at each other hesitantly. They didn't notice the shadow that slipped past them and followed the girls out the door.

"Should we follow them?" asked Peter timidly, voicing the very question that was running through the minds of his friends.

"No," replied James finally, "Remus needs us."

"Evans should be safe with those two looking after her," supplied Sirius rather uncertainly.

"Besides," added James, his look darkening as he glanced at Sirius, "We have more important matters to consider."

"Yeah," affirmed Sirius with a low mumble.

* * *

Severus stood, leaning against the wall of Hogwarts, watching the three girls walk past him. This was what he was supposed to be afraid of? Three silly Gryffindor girls wandering around and frolicking in the middle of the night. He'd expected more from the disinherited Black. Alas, he'd anticipated too much from someone so simple minded. He had just seemed more intent than usual…

Then again, maybe there _was_ something out there. After all, the girls looked like they were headed towards the woods, not necessarily the ridiculously violent plant that was situated just outside of it. Well he was here already, so perhaps something interesting might appear. After all, it wouldn't hurt to have a look, right?

A rustling of leaves and the sound of snapping twigs distracted him momentarily and he stared fiercely in the direction of the woods directly across from him. For a moment, or perhaps his eyes were merely playing tricks on him, he thought he'd seen a shadow flicker across the treetops. But that was impossible. It must've been the wind. Distracted, he did not notice the ghostly footsteps that momentarily appeared in the grass and just as quickly disappeared in the direction of the Whomping Willow.

Contemplating his current situation, he finally decided to remain close to the shadows and head for the tree himself.

* * *

_Oh look! I have a fanfic! I'd forgotten its existence for a little while o.O" Sorry!_

- Winteresque


	10. Chapter 10

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter ten

"Wormtail, now!"

They watched him transfigure himself into a rat and scutter across the field, touching an invisible switch on the tree. Giving their surroundings a quick once over, the two boys followed the rodent down a secret passage.

"Ready?"

Sirius nodded an affirmative and the two boys vanished, leaving a large black dog and a rather handsome stag in their wake. As they continued their way down the rather narrow corridor, they were greeted with a low guttural snarl and the stag found itself suddenly attacked by a haggard looking werewolf with thick grey streaks through his otherwise rich black fur. The dog pounced and pulled him away and the two began to engage in a fierce fight that, as the time passed, soon slowed to an almost playful frolicking, as the stag settled itself calmly beside the rat.

Unbeknownst to them, a stranger had just discovered the entrance to the passage and was now making his path down through the tunnel, his heart racing, filled with trepidation, fear, and a rather misplaced excitement.

~*~

In his office, Albus rubbed tiredly at his eyes and replaced his spectacles. He was not very old for a wizard, and yet he felt as though he'd aged faster in the past decade or so than he had in the last half a century that he'd lived prior to that.

"Tom Riddle," he murmured to himself, musing over the name as he idly consumed a lemon drop.

He'd always known that the boy was destined for greater things, but he'd never anticipated this. He'd always known that his ambitions were much too great, and that it was imperative that he understand that the importance of life did not lie in winning and controlling everything. That was why, in being made prefect, although the rest of the staff were eager to choose him as Head Boy, he alone had deferred. And yet, it seems, he had left it too late.

Now the threat of the ancient magic existed within his grasp, and nowhere could be entirely safe. He himself would leave for a meeting with the Ministry of Magic and then the Order tomorrow morning. It would cost him almost a fortnight's worth of time, and Minerva had been assigned the temporary role of Head master or, in this instance, Head _mistress_ while he was away, which had greatly distressed her.

Sighing yet again, he contemplated the difficulties that would arise if his former student were truly to learn to control the magic now within his possession. Unlike the unforgivable curses, this method of control was able to work without two individuals ever encountering one another. It could not be detected through any means, and rendered the victim entirely incapable of regaining control over their actions. The most dangerous and most unlikely situation was, of course, that the controller must first find a victim who has both experienced a murderous intent, and still be pure of heart and soul.

Then again, in his own experience, he'd discovered that nothing was impossible.

~*~

Simultaneously, the senses of all four animals pricked as the scent of a human wafted through the dampened tunnels. Without hesitation, the werewolf bounded through the damp corridor, as the large black dog desperately attempted to catch it before it could leave.

_It__'__s Snape, isn__'__t it?_

_Shut up and run faster_, snapped the stag in turn, _Maybe we can still catch him_.

_It__'__s too late_, came the nervous squeak ahead of them.

A yelp of surprise and a sudden bright light indicated that Severus Snape had, indeed, seen Remus, and was now desperately struggling for his life against the vicious beast so unrecognisable from his other half. The three animagi exchanged worried looks, and then nodded their understanding.

With a burst of speed, the werewolf found himself grappling with the huge canine who'd sunken his fangs into its side. Severus found himself being dragged by the arm towards the exit with great alacrity.

"Potter…?"

"Run now, talk later," barked the Gryffindor, and Severus wisely decided to comply.

As the two boys cleared the tree, it began moving again and Severus, turning to catch a glimpse of his brush with death, saw only the disappearing tail of what seemed to be a rat.

"We have to report to the head…"

"He already knows," interrupted James, still panting.

"Is Dumbledore crazy? He must know that this… this _monster_ is a threat to…"

"He is _not_ a monster!" snarled James angrily, "And it's people like _you_ who don't seem to understand that even werewolves are human for most of the time!"

"This… We must report it to the ministry! My family will have that crazy old…"

"Shut up!" growled James pushing the other boy away from him, "Don't you get it? He's not always a werewolf! Normally he's…"

Severus' eyes widened in surprise.

"That's a student, isn't it? It must be. What are you doing here, Potter? Why do you know all this? Who are you defending? _Who was that?_"

"That's none of your concern," he retorted, tight-lipped.

Far away from danger now, Severus felt his strength of character returning to him and he pulled himself up to his full height, though he remained a fair bit shorter than the Gryffindor Quidditch captain.

"If you don't tell me, I'll just have to report everything to my father and have him deal with it," he said smugly.

"Or I could just hex you six feet under," responded James angrily, taking out his wand.

"_Remember Potter!_ If it wasn't for your stupid lackey, I wouldn't be in this position right now," he replied warningly.

"And if it wasn't for me," came the calm, controlled voice of the mature side of James that had only recently come into existence, "You wouldn't be alive to talk about it."

Severus clenched his fists, but said nothing.

"Will you promise not to tell anybody anything?"

Severus smirked; his only defence against the cold harsh reality. James Potter had saved his life. He was indebted to James Potter. _James Potter_ of all people.

"Well now, Potter, I really can't…"

"_Snape!_ Will you promise?"

He watched the restrained fury that raged behind the hazel eyes of the boy he had loathed since he'd begun Hogwarts. It had always been James Potter this, James Potter that at every turn. He was the school's brightest star. And yet…

Some things couldn't be denied. Even now, standing here, hating him for everything that he was, he had to admit that James was well liked for very good reasons. His loyalty, his sincerity, his courage. He envied that. Damn him to hell!

"I promise on my honour as a Slytherin."

James raised an eyebrow at this and Severus returned his doubtful expression with a glower. He knew that wasn't exactly the most promising response, but he had always been a man of his word!

Mostly.

~*~

"Lily! Get away from there!" begged Cherie nervously.

Why was she moving towards the woods? What was happening?

"That's it!" growled Aiko, "Cherie! Pull out your wand and back me up. I'm going to try and disarm her."

With that, she launched herself at the girl who seemed nothing like the girl she'd known since first year despite the same face, the same hair; the same eyes. No. This was not Lily. It was, perhaps, Lily's body, but the person within it, the soul that resided there, was no longer her best friend. Lily in turn found herself grappled to the floor, winded, but only for a moment.

_The stranger with the knife leapt at her with a dangerous, leering smile. She in turn scrambled away from him. She had to get away. She must. It was up to her to protect Mummy and Daddy now. Who was this stranger? What did he want with them? Why couldn__'__t he just leave them alone?_

_The knife lay within her grasp and she stared at it, sensing the lazy swaggering of the man who had caused Mummy and Daddy to cry so much, she reached out._

"Aiko!" cried Cherie despairingly as she hovered beside the two girls now entangled, as she watched Lily struggle, kicking Aiko in the abdomen.

What could she do? She couldn't stop one without the other getting in the way. If she tried to stupefy them, surely whatever had prevented them from binding Lily to begin with would prevent her from being stunned, and then only she would remain to deal with this stranger, this unknown creature hidden within the body of her friend.

What was she supposed to do?

Sensing someone's approach, she did the very first thing that came to mind – she cloaked both herself and the struggling girls under a concealment charm and prayed that whoever was lurking around wasn't a professor looking to expel people.

~*~

Satisfied that Severus had left without any intention of ruining Remus' future, James scanned the horizon as discreetly as he could manage, considering the circumstances. That is, a lone school boy amidst a vast landscape of flat green grass situated beside a dark and deadly forest. Just as he began to return, his ears pricked at the sound of twigs crackling, and he glanced uncertainly towards the forest. There were creatures in there that he wasn't as prepared to deal with as the werewolf that, for most part, was his incredibly mild tempered and loyal friend.

A sense of unease overcame him as he continued to look around. Had the girls left already? What were they doing out here to begin with? Nobody should be out here, especially not during the full moon.

Nobody, he mentally checked himself, except the Marauders and possibly a professor or two, of course.

Still, there was something unsettling about the night – as though he had missed something. Striving to shake off the ghostly feeling, he whistled and Peter reappeared to stop the Whomping willow and allow him to slip back in again.

~*~

_The knife. The knife. She grasped it in her hands now. She gazed at the glinting of the smooth steel surface against the bright dappled moonlight of the full moon. The handle dripped with blood, but whose, she could no longer discern. Mummy__'__s? Daddy__'__s? Or the strange man who even now was coming closer and closer__…_

A sense of victory rushed through Aiko as she finally managed to twist the arms of her friend behind her back and pinned her to the floor with her knee, feeling a wave of guilt as she did so. Under normal circumstances, she would never dare use force against her friends, so gentle and lovely, but, she reminded herself, these weren't normal circumstances. Just as she was about to remove the wand from Lily's pocket, Aiko found herself crushed against the floor, and the two girls tumbled, hitting a tree and, to their surprise, found themselves falling through.

_He struck. She scampered away as quickly as her tiny limbs would allow her to. Then, she felt herself thrown against the door, and landed right beside her parents._

"_Mummy? Daddy?__"_

_The eyes were open, but the expressions were frozen in time, covered in blood. Yet even then, they reached out towards one another, striving to hold on, never letting go. Large bright emerald eyes glowed with devastation. How could he? How dare this stranger waltz into their kitchen like this, the kitchen Mummy was so proud of, the kitchen that Daddy sat in every evening after work, the kitchen that they shared their happiest family times in?_

_How could he hurt Mummy and Daddy, who were such nice people, who always put her and Petunia first, who always worked so hard to make sure that they had everything that they wanted? Why? Why would he do something like that?_

_No. She had to protect Mummy and Daddy. She had to. She had to. She had to!_

_The knife on the floor swayed, and lifted itself up of the floor with a sound of metal dragging against the ceramic. The stranger paused and stared in confusion at the noise, then his eyes bulged in disbelief, his expression contorted into terror. Lily watched him only with the understanding that he wasn__'__t going to be allowed to hurt Mummy and Daddy anymore!_

_It lodged itself squarely into the chest of the unknown person and she watched him fall. Then, all went black and she recalled no more._

"Oof!"

Aiko, wincing, groaned under the weight of Lily as she felt the effects of gravity kick in. Cherie deftly fell to place beside them and assisted her with lifting the red head off. It wasn't so much that Lily was heavy, and more because Aiko was much smaller than most people her age, albeit much more violent.

So busy were they with struggling with their now-unconscious load that the fact that a rather savage looking beast was bounding maniacally towards them.

Until, of course, Cherie screamed.

~*~

Sirius mentally cursed his luck. _Twice in one night? What was this?! Provoke the werewolf day?_

The stag blocked as much of the path towards the girls as he could, resisting the urge to cry out loud as the werewolf caught his side, leaving bloody claw marks against the otherwise rich brown coat of fur. He felt Sirius duck across to the other side and begin pushing Cherie forward, clearly indicating that they had to leave. Right now.

"Get up!" insisted Aiko, "I'll pass you Lily!"

Between the two girls, they somehow managed to successfully struggle long and hard enough to pull Lily out of the clearly dangerous hole in the ground. Only metres away from them, they did not think, for now, to question the large furry black dog and rather gallant-looking stag striving with all their might to push back the werewolf.

But it had experienced too much human scent to give up easily tonight. With a sudden burst of energy, it thrust the black dog against the side of the tunnel, dodged the huge antlers that swept at him, and bounded across, staring lustfully at the last remaining girl who watched in terror as it came towards her, bright blue eyes widened as she watched the unknown creature with the black fur streaked in grey, those eyes so hungry, yet still so readily desolate and empty.

As she stared at it in turn, it hit her.

"Remus!"

The werewolf paused for a split second, just enough for the dog and the stag to reappear and push it back. The eye contact broken, with the assistance of Cherie, she too scrambled up out of the strange and very deadly hole in the ground.

Behind her, Sirius, James and Peter exchanged wary expressions and a single thought in unison.

"_Shit.__"_

~*~

Lily sat in a sobbing, hysterical heap huddled in a corner of their dormitory. Alice had disappeared with Frank and Felicity was, as per usual, not present.

"Lily, sweetie, come on, let's get you to bed, yeah?"

The red head was shaking, shivering, shuddering and continued to rub her skin raw, as though attempting to remove some invisible filth.

_Out damn spot._

"I killed him! I killed someone!" she wailed, tremors running through her body, her face pallid, sweat dripping, and yet, the skin was cold.

Cherie and Aiko exchanged glances, but decided that, for now, it would be best to leave things unquestioned. They didn't need to know. Not yet. Silently, they struggled between them to return Lily to her bed. She flung out her arms and her two friends grabbed one each, forcing her to lie down. Eventually, exhausted, she fell into a deep sleep.

"I'll go wet a towel to wash her face," offered Aiko, standing up and retreating into the bathroom.

Cherie nodded and watched her walk away. Lily panted more than breathed, resting against her. Streaks of sweat and dirt from her recent tribulations ran down her forehead, her cheeks. They intermingled with tears that had become a steady trickle before Cherie realised that they were dripping from her own eyes. Startled, she wiped them away quickly before Aiko could come out and notice.

Suddenly, a crash, a cry of surprise, and silence emanated from the bathroom. Startled, Cherie looked up in alarm and pulled out her wand, her hand and face turning white as she waited with trepidation.

"Well she was rather feisty," complained an all too familiar voice that made Cherie tremble and drop her wand.

A female figure appeared, leaning against the doorframe of the communal bathroom, one hand twirling a vial filled with a substance that Cherie immediately identified as the Polyjuice potion. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open her mouth to speak. The person before her smirked a little and stepped out into the moonlight.

"What? Don't tell me you've forgotten my name?"

"Bellatrix."

~*~

The werewolf lay, subdued now, sulking in an uncharacteristically defeated manner across from the animagi, all of whom had falling into a tense silence. Aiko had found out. She knew what he was. And now he would be despised by her, by the only person he had really… Well, there had never been much of a possibility for that happening anyway, so perhaps it was more accurate to say that his chances had quite simply been reduced to absolute zero.

"_Prongs__…"_

"_No. Sirius__…__ Just__…__ Shut up for now, okay?__"_

Silence ensued. The large black canine could feel himself shrinking inwards. He knew that he was wrong. He knew that there was nobody but himself to blame. More importantly, he knew that Remus would never forgive him and he knew that he deserved that too.

"_So__…__ What do we do about Snape and Aiko?__"_ piped up Peter timidly.

James mentally groaned and Sirius mentally buried himself deeper into the ground. Peter took the hint and made no further attempt to break the air of desolation that hung within the haunted house.

~*~

"I'm surprised that Hogwart's defences are so low," she remarked casually, "It took almost no real strength or ability to get in. Maybe it's because the defence barriers just haven't been able to recognise me as an intruder yet. After all, I _was_ still a student at this school only a year or so ago."

For a moment it occurred to Cherie that, if a werewolf was being kept under a violent botanical monstrosity on the grounds of Hogwarts, it stood to reason that Professor Dumbledore probably knew about it and had probably lowered the defence mechanisms for the night to reduce the strain of it on the dark magical creature.

"What are you doing here?" she finally managed to ask, "Lily will be awake any moment; it's too dangerous. What… What have you done to Aiko?"

The renowned crazed glint of the Black Madness revealed itself momentarily as Bellatrix smiled secretively, her lips curling with a cruelty that marred her rather beautiful face. She raised the vial as if to toast to something, and downed the contents. Suddenly, Aiko stood before Cherie, dressed in an outfit much too large for her small body. Bellatrix gazed critically at her new figure.

"She isn't much, is she?" she remarked disdainfully, taking very heavy un-Aiko-like steps towards the bathroom mirror and peering closely in the darkness at her new reflection.

Cherie watched in silent mortification. What could she do? She'd seen Bellatrix duel and knew that their strengths were vastly unequal. What was this witch here for? What was happening?

"The Dark Lord has a mission," informed Bellatrix, as though reading her mind, "We are to keep this… _mudblood_" she sniffed disdainfully, "under close scrutiny and make sure she remains unharmed."

Cherie blinked in confusion. What…?

"She is the key to our Dark Lord's triumph over Albus Dumbledore," she hissed with delighted malice.

For a moment, Cherie could feel her heart stop beating. Lily? Suddenly, the screaming, the wailing, the rumours, everything fell in place. Lily was the pawn that the Dark Lord intended to use when activating the ancient magic. The reason he had needed her blood… The blood of an innocent required whereby his control would be stronger because of her close friendship with Lily. Lily's own immaculate ability to use magic and her intelligence just further lent herself to being the ideal candidate.

Everything was perfect.

Unconsciously, Cherie stroked the copper curls that lay beside her. How long had the Dark Lord known about Lily? Was that why she hadn't been punished earlier for traversing with the enemy? Because he knew she would suffer a much greater emotional punishment by attempting to defy him? But for now…!

"So what happened to Aiko?" she asked nonchalantly, though her hand trembled.

"Who knows? She's been apparated somewhere. Don't worry, she'll have to stay alive in order for me to continue pretending to be her," she responded, turning to Cherie, who, nodding, deftly flicked her wand discreetly and Aiko's blue eyes suddenly reverted to their usual plain brown.

It would be a problem if she started walking around and revealing the eyes that Aiko had taken such pains to hide. Wherever she was, she would be fine for the moment. The Dark Lord was known to enjoy capturing and caging pretty creatures, be they animal, magical or human. Especially if they were of worth to him. In this instance, a Hogwarts student would be invaluable in assisting the downfall of Dumbledore if this current plan were to fail. So for now, the person to protect was…

"Lily!"

"Cherie? What's happening?" mumbled Lily, rather disoriented and feeling as though she'd just woken up from being drugged.

Across the room, Bellatrix gave her a warning glance and disappeared into the bathroom with a change of clothes she'd removed from Aiko's trunk. A quiet memory flashed across Cherie's thoughts, recalling Lily's insistence that they no longer conceal anything about her, from her.

"Nothing."

~*~

Occasionally people have to review my story and remind me that it exists! I forget sometimes, in the midst of working and uni and partying and whatnot! xP I'm sorry my beloved readers I shall attempt to recall this story's existence more frequently in the future!

s2. Winteresque


	11. Chapter 11

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter eleven

_Side note: Thank you Sugar Hiccup for pointing out that I made a silly updating error!_

The next morning found the whole of Hogwarts possibly even more disoriented than Lily. Whispers were passed across the entire hall and even some of the Professors were found mumbling amongst themselves. This morning they had witnessed the most devastating occurrence since the formation of the Marauders – the disintegration of the very group. They watched in silence and absolute astonishment as Sirius arrived to take his usual seat, only to watch Remus depart before his once-friend had been seated. They watched Peter glance nervously as James, exchanging a look with Sirius, went after Remus immediately.

And so by some stroke of luck, in the midst of all this confusion, the lack of Gryffindor girls went entirely unnoticed. Up in their dorm room, however, the true reigning powers of hell had been unleashed.

"You absolutely _cannot_ go out dressed like that!" insisted Cherie, slightly frazzled.

It seemed ancient magic was more impressive than she'd imagined. When the Dark Lord chose to take control, Lily acted on his every whim, but otherwise remained Lily until the appointed moment. Consequently, for those who did not know her well, the transformation would be almost impossible to spot. The magic was entirely undetectable. Now the question remained, did he become a puppet master, or was he also privy to the knowledge that Lily possessed? Bellatrix-turned-Aiko, however, was slightly less subtle and had managed to somehow find her way into Aiko's wardrobe, which consisted of an array of clothing that she wore to suit a variety of… functions.

"Who knew the brat had so much nice stuff hidden away?" purred Bellatrix, staring into the mirror preening.

She wore an intricately patterned white corset with a matching short ruffled skirt, all of which was embroidered with silver-green thread. It matched oddly with the long, tousled raven hair; a clear indication of the older girl's sleeping habits. The colour of the clothing also contrasted oddly with Aiko's physical appearance, clashing with her skin complexion. No doubt Aiko was often in the habit of changing her appearance to protect her identity whenever she led her double life. Lily-momentarily-turned-Dark-Lord watched with a slight smile of amusement as Cherie attempted to wrench the tall, thin, metal stilettos that Bellatrix had just unearthed. Finally, she acted.

"Bellatrix, you can't reveal yourself to be anyone other than Aiko. Comply with Cherie's wishes."

For a moment, Cherie thought she saw a flash of fear flicker across those borrowed eyes, as though she'd just remembered who Lily could be and was at that moment. Bellatrix said nothing and instead donned a plain brown tartan skirt with a simple white cardigan over a collared pink shirt. Not quite Aiko, but also less attention-catching. Cherie swept a glance at Lily, who gave nothing away but the slightly sinister tilt of her lips. Nevertheless, she noted, with a great sense of relief, that their classes for the day never left either of her friends in a classroom without her in it. So long as she could persuade the other to remain in the dorm during the free period, it would be fine.

~*~

The mood across the entire classroom was heavy. Even the professors seemed more softly spoken than normal. Everything was tentative, uncertain, but no longer because of any fear of a Marauder prank. Rather, because there would no longer be any of those left. James sat with Sirius and Peter by order of Remus, who remained brooding, tucked away alone in the back corner somewhere. In this position, he vaguely observed the three girls walk in with Cherie ushering Aiko, who seemed… He frowned and blinked, rubbing at his eyes and returning to the sight with a greater sense of concentration. Aiko's expression was one of careless indifference, boredom and… something else. Something he was very familiar with; an almost… animal hunger? Was this an expression Aiko was capable of making?

He watched them nod their head in silent acknowledgement to the rest of the former Marauders and retreated within himself bitterly. Clearly he didn't know his friends well enough – who was he to judge what Aiko could and could not feel when he could not even trust the friends that he had selected to be keepers of his greatest secret? A new thought suddenly came upon him, a vague reminder… He frowned. Something had happened that night, aside from Severus, he was positive. He stared hard at Aiko. Something… something… It evaded him and soon he was too tired to care, lulled into the monotonous, rhythmic practise of taking notes in class.

Cherie watched with a strange sense of horror mingled with mild relief as she watched Lily assume her normal position in class, take out her quill and begin paying attention to the class as she normally would. Good. Lily was Lily, it seemed, for now at the very least. "Aiko", on the other hand, dropped herself rather ungracefully into a seat beside Cherie, folded her arms and slid forward in her chair, legs spread rather ungainly apart. Cherie heard one of the Slytherin boys sitting across from them choke and, it was rather apparent, so did Bellatrix. She raised an eyebrow at the boy, who coughed a little and attempted miserably to glower at her with disdain to regain a little of his dignity.

Bellatrix smirked. This body was a little too short, a little too skinny and a little too shapeless for her liking, but it was good enough. Slowly, she crossed her legs and watched the disappointment clearly etched in the boy's face, then tossed her hair, unbuttoning her shirt a little more and leaned forward, feeling the shirt material slide off and expose her left shoulder and the fact that she had left the room, unintentionally, surprisingly, without a bra on. She watched the boy position his bag in his lap. Not a pureblood, then. Pureblood Slytherin males were always introduced to the luxuries of being born to privilege by the time they were fifteen.

"Aiko," hissed Cherie warningly, urgently.

Bellatrix shrugged, repositioning her shirt and leaning back. She'd gotten bored already anyway. Paedophilia had never been her thing. Well, not really.

Seated in the row just above the boy, Derrick raised an eyebrow. Now where had his little Gryffindor china doll learnt to do that? After the dance he had found her elusive, occasionally subtly suggestive, but that had been outright flirtatious and very inviting. He stared hard at the subject of his interest, who gave no indication of noticing him doing so. He smirked – he knew her well enough to know that almost nothing escaped her attention and could only suppose that ignoring his gaze could only mean one thing. He allowed his thoughts to leave the lecture and pursue advances of a more satisfying nature.

~*~

She kicked the cage that she found herself seated in, only to experience a very strong electrical shock course through her body. Ten minutes later, gingerly, she sat up. She felt for her wand and assessing that it really had disappeared, put a hand over her eyes, fearing that the spell had vanished. Beside her sat a tray of food and a bowl of water. She gazed into the liquid pool and, sure enough, deep blue orbs stared directly back at her.

Damn. This was not a good time to be found with such eyes.

Inspecting her surroundings, she concluded that she'd been locked in a dungeon that was, interestingly enough, not magically bounded. Or at least, it didn't seem to be. Rather, it seemed the cages were wired through muggle means. The reason for this soon became apparent as she stared in disbelief at a fellow captive in the opposite cage.

No way. No freaking way.

An incredibly slender, incredibly blonde, incredibly gorgeous boy slowly lifted his head and the clearest pair of grey blue eyes met her own. His hair fell down past his shoulders, down his back and fell in a pool about his waist where he lay on the ground, having raised himself only to notice the newcomer stir. His skin was pearly white, his features fair, but what struck her most prominently were the pointed ears that the hair could not conceal, the blue markings across his face.

An elf. More importantly, a pure high born elf. In captivity. His eyes were dull and a flicker of a sigh seemed to be permanently imprinted on those impossibly mesmerising lips. No doubt he had been here for much too long. It took centuries for the strange mystical glimmer of an elf's expression to evaporate. But he wasn't looking at her. She shifted uncomfortably and the distinctly cool metal of the dagger she wore permanently around her waist suddenly felt very obvious. Old magic pulls to old magic like nothing else.

There was a moment of uncertainty as the elf gauged her wearily.

"You are of the ancient line?" he rasped uncertainly.

Or, as raspy as an elf's voice, smooth and musical as it naturally is, could become, only after decades of captivity.

She nodded. All at once, an aura of sadness pushed her back so forcefully she almost fell over. She was no longer regarded as a danger and so there was no longer any need for him to withhold anything back. This was the peace between old family lines and magical creatures of the ancient treaty. Peace in exchange for protection and knowledge of the old magic. That was what truly separated pureblood from the muggleborns. Not blood, but ancient magic. It was the knowledge that could be shared with anyone, regardless of blood, so long as family ties remained strong. But very few remembered that.

"How have you come to be here?" she asked hesitantly.

The eyes clouded a stormy grey and a wave of anger swept across her mind, dizzying her momentarily.

"Voldemort."

~*~

Lily scanned the room as she packed up her belongings and waited for Cherie to persuade Aiko to do the same. She watched the predominant portion of the once-Marauders remove themselves rather sulkily and noted that Remus was staring at Aiko. She moved to the back of the classroom and sat beside him.

"Are you okay?"

Remus glanced at Lily, nodded, then frowned again.

"Is Aiko feeling alright, Lily? She seems to be acting a little… strange."

Lily smiled sympathetically. Remus' affections were probably not as discreet as he would have hoped them to be. Aiko had been acting rather out of sorts recently, but Cherie had told her it was the side effects of a spell she'd been working on alone. Except nobody was supposed to know about the individual spell workings of their clique and it seemed rather unnecessary to reveal them to Remus now. After all, they had always handled everything without intruders.

"She's still a little disoriented from her lack of sleep last night, that's all."

For a second, Remus froze. Last night? What was Aiko doing last night? Last night… What had happened…?

"… But she still got all her homework done on time, I think, so she'll have a better night's rest tonight."

A flood of relief washed over him. That's right. What would have enticed her to leave the dormitory anyway?

"How are you?"

"What?"

Startled, Remus pulled out of his reverie to blink in a rather disorientated manner at the red head who looked at him curiously. Strangely, she was smiling in a way he'd never seen her smile before.

"You know, with your late nights and all… We wouldn't want you to collapse from fatigue now, would we? After all, it is the side effects of battling and rejecting yourself, don't you think?" she asked slyly.

Remus stared at her, bewildered. What? What was she saying? What was she talking about? She couldn't know, could she?

"Don't worry, even the best of us occasionally hit bouts of unrequited love. Just take her on a _walk underneath the moonlight_ and I'm sure she'll understand precisely _who you are_ and what she means to you," remarked the cloud of copper curls walking away from him.

Dazed, Remus held his forehead for a moment. What did that mean? Did she know about Aiko? He blushed. Was it that obvious? But more importantly… Why a moonlit walk? Brushing it out of his mind and struggling to cool his burning cheeks, he packed up his bag and walked out of the room.

As Lily came towards her, Cherie was struck with a notion and, carefully, signed, _so, what were you talking with Remus about?_ Lily, noting this, gave a slight smirk and responded in hand gestures, _nothing that concerns you._

A slight flicker of understanding appeared on Cherie's face and Lily moved closer to her.

"I am impressed," she whispered into her ear, "that your little group has taken so many magical measures in which to protect yourself from society. A personal sign language? Your memory transference technique was also rather creative. It seems your little _whore_ will also come to be of some use."

Cherie impassively finished packing and, watching as Lily suddenly paused to hold her head as though in great pain before shaking herself out of it, shepherded the two girls into the next class. So she was right. Everything that Lily knew, he came to know also.

~*~

"Remus! Please, could you just let me explain?"

What was there to explain? He continued walking very determinedly towards the library. The sun shone brightly but the courtyard beside the path he walked was devoid of students, most of them either attending class or busy elsewhere. Sirius had been banned from the library ever since Madame Pince had caught him in the pants of a particularly easy Seventh Year Hufflepuff back a year or so ago. He was always getting himself into useless situations like that. He never seemed to worry about the consequences of getting caught, ever. Not of the consequences he would experience, nor that of the rest of his friends. He had just laughed it off and boasted of it to anyone who was prepared to pay any kind of attention. The rest of the Marauders had since had to do all his research work on his behalf, which, perhaps, he thought of as a bonus. But they were the marauders no longer. Typical Sirius, to act so selfishly without a second thought.

"Look! I'm sorry!" he panted, finally catching up to his friend and facing him at eye level.

Remus looked at him angrily. Sorry? After what he'd done, all he had to say for himself was _sorry_ as though that would solve everything? As though everything would be okay so long as he had finally decided to demean himself a little for the sake of his friend, for the sake of getting out of trouble? He clenched his fists and, barely knowing what he was doing, lashed out.

Suddenly Sirius found himself on the floor with the beginnings of a bruise to one cheek. Now just as furious, he got up. What was Remus' problem? James had solved everything with Severus. Aiko had said nothing since or even hinted at having any recollection of the night. It wasn't like everything had gotten out of hand. It wasn't as though there had been irreparable repercussions. He was apologizing and this is what he received in return?

James turned the corner to find two of his best friends heaving furiously, both looking worse for wear, with Remus sporting a cut lip, blood dripping from his forehead and Sirius a bruised eye and cheek. Just as they launched themselves at each other, he stepped in and shoved them both aside. Remus stumbled back against a wall and Sirius fell to the ground.

"Stay out of this, Prongs!" growled Remus.

"No," he responded calmly but firmly, giving Sirius a very pointed look that clearly meant, _if you know what's good for you, stay the hell where you are and shut up_.

"Moony, we've been friends for long enough for you to know that Padfoot is stupid and hot-headed and as a result sometimes makes the wrong decisions, but he never intended to hurt you. He never would. He'd give his life for you, just as I would, just as Wormtail would. We would never intentionally betray you and you know that. Can't you forgive him, for the sake of all our years of friendship, for not being able to help being who he is just as he has never held what you are against him?"

"So you're saying that it's okay for him to do whatever he likes just because he accepts me when nobody else will, is that it?" snapped Remus, voice rising, "Is that what you mean? That, because you all _chose_ to accept me, I _have_ to accept everything _stupid_ you do and be okay with it because what I am is not natural and not normally okay? So it's okay to screw up the _disabled_ one but it's not okay to be angry at the _normal_ one, is that it?"

"Moony, you know very well that's not what I meant," replied James, striving to contain his own sense of pride and simultaneous despair. He knew he would never be able to fathom what Remus was suffering, but it was becoming difficult to not lash out when he was being attacked for something that wasn't even his fault.

Remus fell back against a wall and strove to even his breathing, the blood continuing its path slowly down his cheek. He watched the rather miserable looking Sirius with his head hung in shame. He saw the determined, controlled expression on James' face. All were familiar to him, but never had he observed them with such intensity, nor in such a situation. For a second, he almost laughed out loud.

"I'm going to see Madame Pomphrey," he muttered and turned away, walking past both of his supposed best friends without another glimpse.

James let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and glanced back at Sirius. Mentally he sighed. He was himself feeling the pressure of having his two best friends fight. He knew that Sirius was in the wrong, but also knew that it had been foolish and perfectly unintentional. He also knew that Remus had taken so long to find people he could trust and that it would be almost impossible for him to accept the ones who betrayed that trust. He held a hand out to Sirius.

"Come on, Padfoot, there's nothing we can do about it right now. Just give him some time. He'll realise that everything will be okay eventually."

"Will it?" came a voice so devoid of any cheer that James found it difficult to believe that it was Sirius he was speaking to, "Will everything really be okay? I screwed up, Prongs. And he's not going to forgive me for it."

Ignoring the proffered hand, Sirius picked himself up and trudged in the opposite direction. James stayed where he was, knowing that there would be no point in asking him where he was going, nor would he be welcome. Closing his eyes and praying for a miracle, he jumped the low brick wall into the courtyard and headed towards the Quidditch field.

~*~

She was puzzled. Very puzzled.

"But Voldemort has only recently begun to truly rise in power. That means you haven't been here very long, but..."

She hesitated. It was never wise to offend an elf, caged or otherwise. He gave a small, rather grimaced smile in response and gingerly stroked his hair.

"... But I seem too drawn, too broken, too listless for an elf in captivity only for a very few years relative to our lifespan?" he finished for her in a rather melancholic tone.

Pausing to consider her options, Aiko stared at the strange creature before her, so noble and yet simultaneously so helpless. The more she gazed at him, the more she longed to move towards him, to comfort him, to assist him. Unwittingly, she began moving towards the bars that separated them. Unknowingly, she reached out, only to reflexively snatch her hand back as she cried out in pain at the jolt it sent through her arm and shook her to her very bones.

"That is your answer," he murmured bitterly, raising his eyes to hers once again, "We were born with our own passive defences. Elves are not aggressive by nature; we are born with subtle graces that are intended to allow those around us to succumb not to vicious forces, but to emotional ones. But for that to backfire, for that to produce such a sadistic desire, to be so defiled..."

He looked ashamedly away and suddenly Aiko noticed for the first time things that she hadn't picked up at once. The lips were swollen and cut, the neck was bruised, the feet and the robes that covered them trailed with dried blood. As he played with his hair, the sleeves fell and cuff marks were revealed about the wrist. Further down were clear black areas which she first took to be bruises, but a second glance revealed to be signs of injections. For a long moment there was only a sense of incomprehension, then a realisation that drew her almost to physical repulsion. How could He... How could anyone...

But then she saw his face and felt only compassion and a bizarre understanding. Careful now not to touch the bars, she moved closer to him. As his eyelashes fluttered open to see what she was doing, they exchanged a look of comprehension and mutual sympathy. He could feel it, she knew. Her tainted aura. She understood. She knew what he was going through. She was just the same.

~*~

"Black magic," she murmured to herself, flicking through the pages, "There is no such thing as good and bad magic. Magic is neutral. It is the wielder who chooses the purpose of the magic. Black magic was once merely a very ancient form of magic of strength so great that it had a tendency to engulf an individual's very soul if used with a corrupted heart, thus obtaining its name. The ability to control someone without any sign of detection was believed to have been designed to protect those we love and cherish, to lend them our strength and relieve them of the pain an accidental murder must cause psychologically. Black magic calls to black magic and that is the only method of reversing the bond."

"What are you reading, Princess?"

"Sirius!" she exclaimed, snapping the book shut in shock, "What are you doing here? Wait… Are you feeling okay?"

Sirius offered a grin that did not have the same vigour it once harboured as he shrugged and seated himself beside Cherie.

"I won't ask if you won't?" offered Sirius

"Done."

"Now how might I be of service, my Lady?"

Suddenly, it occurred to her that, coming from a family whose entire lineage was named after the very magic she was studying, the downhearted boy seated beside her might actually be able to offer his assistance in such matters.

"Sirius, explain to me what this passage means…"

~*~

Yay! I'm back to writing what I know nothing about again! I can just feel this getting pretentious and dark and ridiculous and bad. My apologies in advance!


	12. Chapter 12

Unforetold memoirs – Chapter Twelve

"My Lord, please excuse me for speaking out of line, but..."

"If you know not to speak out of line, Vaisey, then I suggest you do not do it at all," drawled the cloaked figure sitting atop his throne with his usual mask of boredom, playing with the large silver ring encrusted with emeralds that adorned his right hand.

"What he means, my Liege, is that many of your followers, though we swear to unquestioningly obey your every command, are confused as to why you have yet to take action upon our sworn enemy though you have every ability to do so."

"Patience is a virtue, Malfoy, did you mother never teach you that?" he retorted sarcastically before returning his gaze to Deverux.

"Have you informed your child of her duties, Deverux?" he asked nonchalantly with a terrible smirk, knowing very well now that he had no control over his daughter no matter what she played to being.

"Yes, my Lord," he responded stiffly, knowing and comprehending nothing.

"My Lord is waiting for the full moon, is that not right?" asked a soft voice from behind the throne, "He is waiting for the moment when he can best grasp at the girl's killing intent to manipulate it to his own desires with the least chance of Dumbledore's deflection of such powers, yes?"

The death eaters before him blinked in surprise and shock. Some of the women gasped audibly at such a display of audacity from one of his own, to dare have the strength to mention the name of their sworn enemy so boldly without fear of any repercussions. They watched flinchingly, waiting for their Lord to inflict the anticipated punishment that must surely come. To their surprise, he merely smiled and raised an eyebrow, acknowledging his favourite without turning around. She was his pride, his prize, now sufficiently disillusioned and thoroughly healed from the tragedy of her past that had hardened her and refined the intellect that she no longer feared making audible.

"Ah, my dear, you are more keenly aware of your surroundings than your supposed spouse," he remarked smoothing, watching amusedly as Deverux's every movement became visibly taut, "Indeed you are correct. Will you not grace us with your presence?"

She appeared with the hood of her cloak down, her long blonde tendrils carelessly sprawled in disarray across her shoulders underneath the tinted lighting. Evidently she had not meticulously made herself as many others present had, for she wore nothing on her face but the gifts nature had bestowed upon her. She had been by his side for many years, they knew, but nobody knew who she was, nor had she ever been present, until now.

Few were selected by Him and even fewer remained for long. They knew him to encourage adultery but only those who had been approached, who had also been declined, knew the gentleman that lay beneath the ruthlessness. Never would he take a woman unwilling to leave her husband; only those who were willing and ambitious. And those he taught their station and returned. This creature, however, was different and to be revered, though nobody understood how or why. She was marked only by the emerald clasp of her cloak, shaped to resemble a crown, and until now, nobody had seen her face. She was a true beauty of petite features and indiscernible age. Much like her only child.

"May I present to you, my loyal underlings, my Queen, Madame Deverux."

~*~

"And where have you been?" demanded a very annoyed roommate, leaning against the bed frame in a disgruntled manner.

"Studying," she snapped in return, harassed and annoyed not only by what she now understood, but also by the woman's stupidity. Already people were starting to question Aiko's recent change in attitude.

"The Dark Lord's orders…"

"The Dark Lord," she said, raising her voice to interrupt Bellatrix, "did not request that I forsake my studies to prime his world domination and I have absolutely no intention to do so."

"Cherie? Aiko? What's wrong?" asked a concerned Lily, expression furrowed slightly. It was rare to see her two best friends arguing.

"Nothing," offered Cherie with a half hearted smile, "We were just debating about some class work, but it's fine now. What're you up to?"

Lily knew very well that something was wrong. There was something wrong with Aiko, there was something wrong with Cherie and the fact that they refused to tell her about it meant that there was something wrong with her, but she couldn't figure it out. But it did mean that Cherie had broken her promise, something she would never do unless the results were dire and the fact that she wasn't being filled in on it… well, the possibilities weren't at all comforting. Wordlessly, she smiled and nodded and left, an action that Bellatrix snorted at before retiring to her bed. Cherie groaned soundlessly, slumping to the floor in exhaustion. When was this finally going to end?

"Hey, you okay?"

She jumped at the sound of Remus' voice and, startled, turned to find him looking up at her from the bottom of the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

"Remus! Aren't you supposed to be in the kitchen stealing food with… Oh, sorry," she stuttered, startled at the sudden expression of exhaustion that fell across his face.

He shrugged and smiled like a man utterly lost and without any idea how to find himself. She smiled sympathetically. Now that she had convinced Madame Pince to allow Sirius back into the library, they were frequently found together, huddled, pouring over various books on dark creatures, black magic, ancient magic, everything. And occasionally they found time to talk about other things, time to talk about him. So she knew a little bit; she knew he was prideful and injured, knew that, for all his scoffing and disregard, he was dying inside and would do anything to change that. And she knew Remus' expression. It was the same one Sirius wore.

"Chocolate frog?" she asked, offering him a smile as they seated themselves comfortably in the common room. It was too late for anybody to be up and about. He accepted it with quiet thanks.

"He is genuinely sorry, you know," she said, analysing his expressions. It contorted momentarily before he quickly turned away.

"I know," he muttered with a sigh.

"Then why not forgive him?"

He turned and looked at her searchingly. Would she understand?

"There's a difference between knowing and accepting. I can consciously argue that he's sincerely sorry as much as I like, but at the end of the day, I just can't… bring myself to. It feels so… out of my control. Does that make sense?"

Cherie gave a wry smile. Knowing and accepting? Yes, she knew. As a child, all her family friends had acknowledged that she was just a child untainted by choosing sides and misdirected alliances, but it hadn't stopped them from insisting that their children stay away from "the Deverux girl". But she couldn't blame them. It was hard to go against the instinctive human nature to protect oneself by avoiding possible perils.

"Maybe someday he'll be able to prove to you again that you made the right decision by trusting him with your secrets," she suggested. He smiled a little sadly and nodded.

"Hopefully."

With that, he turned and made as though to move away, but paused for a moment.

"Cherie, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Are Aiko and Lily okay? They've been acting a little… strangely recently and even you seem out of sorts these days."

She gave a small laugh and shrugged carelessly, "We're all just experiencing a bit of teen identity crisis, I suppose."

Remus nodded, not entirely satisfied, but supposed it was none of his business. Cherie rationalise to herself that she hadn't lied entirely, per se. Bidding him goodnight, Cherie then climbed the staircase, only to meet a very distorted expression of sweetness on Lily's face.

"Yes?" she bit out, teeth gritted. How dare he use her body, how dare he ruin their happiness, _how dare he steal their lives_.

"Your little friend is smart. If she's not careful, she might actually stumble over the answers that she already knows to seek. It seems you know each other very well. Be careful, little one, you know the consequences of defying me and you know that I have the ability to tell," smirked the red head, tapping a finger to her head.

Cherie stayed silent. Lily knew her well, but not perfectly. In the same way they had no idea how Aiko was able to manoeuvre herself about Hogwarts and out of it without detection, Lily had no idea how Cherie was capable of lying, manipulating and sabotaging where necessary to protect her friends and obtain any information she required. Clearly this had not quite occurred to His Darkness. She watched the demon in her friend's body turn away and Lily collapse, exhausted, onto her bed.

Bellatrix had disappeared, undoubtedly to leave the confinements of the school for a few hours of play before returning to continue wreaking havoc in Aiko's life. With a sigh, Cherie turned away. She did not feel like being in the same room as somebody who could at any moment turn into a coldblooded killer. So at that moment, nobody was able to notice the shadow that swept into the room and cloaked it with a suppressive darkening atmosphere. All of course, except a certain werewolf who fidgeted against his sleeping draught with a resistance that proved futile as a wave of lethargy swept through him and rendered him unconscious.

~*~

"And what is your business here, young Prince? As you know, it is forbidden for you to be within these castle walls while the children reside."

"I understand."

"And yet you persist. Sit down then and let me hear your story."

"I feel a dark presence in your midst. Not the canine, but an angel."

Dumbledore slowly clasped his hands together and placed them on the desk, nodding.

"I see. But your Law requires that black magic cannot be revealed to the lost followers, correct?"

The young man of twenty, tall and lithe, strong, handsome was clearly unhuman if his fangs were anything to go by. He was dressed immaculately in a white button up shirt and black dress pants. His eyes glinted deep brown red, his skin as pale as snow, his hair cut short, but left to fall into a slanted fringe at the front. His hands were slender as he waved them slightly as though to apologise for his binds as an immortal creature.

"Ah. Then may I ask," began Dumbledore, removing his glasses and looking intently at the vampire before him, "what it is that you seek in coming to me?"

"Permission to protect her."

"You know who she is?"

"I was watching on the night of the full moon within the boundaries of the forest."

Dumbledore watched the creature before him with a solid silence that gave away none of his thoughts. Picking up his glasses, he rose from his chair as he spoke.

"Very well."

"Albus!" cried out a shocked Professor McGonagall, appearing at the top of the spiral staircase, "How could you consent to this…"

She instinctively silenced herself upon seeing the individual before her. The Vampire Prince himself had arrived. A pure blood sworn off the blood of humans, but one whose lust, she was convinced, could not possibly be controlled forever.

"Minerva, please leave us for the moment."

Wordlessly, she left the room. Dumbledore then turned to face the Prince and examined his passionless expression carefully. There could only be one reason for this, but there was no other choice. The protection he offered for the moment far outweighed the risk of his presence amongst one he deemed a desirable companion. Also, this Prince was renowned for acquiescing only those who willingly succumbed to his requests, though indeed his irresistible nature almost made it an impossibility. Nevertheless, this was the best he could do for now.

"You may do as you see fit, young Prince."

With a bow, he disappeared into a swirl of black mist. Exhausted, Dumbledore slumped into his chair and wiped his glasses absentmindedly.

~*~

She could not tell whether it was night or day, nor how much time had passed since she'd arrived, but she, too, could feel herself becoming as listless and lifeless as the creature beside her. She refused to consume the food she was offered and it had begun to tax her physically. The soothing aura of the elf, Illien, gave her peace of mind, but not nourishment. He could help her no further than that. Suddenly, she felt the aura shrink away faster than she could open her bleary eyes.

"My, aren't you the beauty," drawled a voice ice cold and deadly. She did not need to ask to know who was standing before her cage. Beside her stood a beautiful woman with golden tendrils that looked very familiar.

"Voldemort," she hissed, glaring at him.

"Feisty," he remarked absently, "Just like little Cherie. I had hoped," he added, kneeling, "that you might've spoken my name with a little more affection."

She would've spat in his face had her thirst not prevented her from doing so.

"An ancient bloodline. A descendant from the House of Jiang. I am surprised. I had not known that one still remained. It is too bad you are tainted. You would've been a highly valuable resource had you not been, but, as it stands, you might still come in handy. How old must you be, do you think, for a child from a magical lineage to come into possession of the family heirloom and secrets?"

Her expression remained utterly passive. She knew he had nothing and refused to give anything away. So long as she gave no signals, he would not be able to guess where she had hidden the relic. Not even he, for all his magical powers, could prevent himself from being electrocuted by the cage he had designed and placed a magic restriction boundary over. He would not take the risk of removing either of them from this area, she was certain. She was the key to the possibility of tapping into yet another pureblood household and he would not risk losing her.

"Come, my Queen," he finally announced, rising, "We have plenty of time to deal with this one. I must check to see how your daughter is faring helping me conquer the strength of Hogwarts."

Aiko stared at the woman walking away who had turned to her with such an aching pleading look that she hardly knew what to think. Then, it clicked. She was a mother who had not seen her child in many, many years.

"Cherie is strong and well, Voldemort, you will not break her," she called out, watching the flicker of relief that passed across her beautiful face as she turned away.

Placing herself on the ground in a position where she could watch her elfin friend, she sighed, brows furrowed. She had an idea. She didn't like it, it was risky and it required significant amounts of danger that she couldn't afford, but there seemed to be no other way. The bars were very close together and the moment they made contact with any kind of surface, an electrical current would be passed into the body. It was certainly enough to singe and damage, but not enough to kill.

The sheathed dagger she wore against her bare skin possessed the ability to heal or fix anything, provided it was used in accordance with the right pentagram, the right ritual and blood from the bloodline of the one who possessed it. The catch was, however, that the method of destruction or illness must be known, though it was possible to ameliorate anything with an unknown cause at the cost of a human sacrifice. Her family had once been healers before they had become warriors, but that had been a very long time ago.

Instinctively, her hand went towards it as she stared intently at the metal bars. It was also an ancient artefact and, as such, had the ability to magnify natural magic, whether they be spells or magical creatures. Such as elves. She stared down at the bracelets she wore. Her bangles were useless now, but the charm bracelet that the Marauders, of all people, had given her. That would come in handy.

Briefly, she was reminded of Remus. Kind hearted, soft spoken Remus. A werewolf. A dark creature. How would Illien respond to that? But there was no time.

"Illien!"

The elf roused from his slumber and watched her questioningly. This girl, whose aura had comforted him, whose words had soothed his heartache, was suddenly wearing an oddly determined and grim expression on her face.

"I have a plan, but you must promise, no matter what happens to me, you will follow it accordingly."

The elf tilted his head, hair cascading gently about him. He did not like how this sounded at all.

"What is the plan?" he asked softly.

"Promise me first," she insisted then, reading his expression, "If you succeed, then we shall both be saved, but you are the only one who can do it. Promise me!"

The elf nodded slowly, "I promise."

~*~

How to subtly explain the girls' secrets more specifically... Hmm... That would require too much effort and too much rewriting for the time being, I'm afraid, so I'll just summarise it briefly and hope that I didn't screw up anywhere when writing this story to change the basic facts.

Briefly speaking, Lily killed her parents' murderer "accidentally" or "reflexively", if you like, in the same way Harry Potter caused his great aunt or whoever to balloon and fly out of the kitchen. Cherie is the daughter of a family whose loyalty lies with Voldemort; she grew up in a family where her mother was abused by her father, then kidnapped, so to speak, by Voldemort himself. She herself is being manipulated into assisting his plans. Conversely, Aiko is a part of a pureblood family who has inherited a family heirloom of certain "ancient powers", so to speak, and is hiding her identity because she is from a royal family that was hunted down and erased by Death Eaters. Subsequently, having to fend for herself, she sells herself, so to speak, for a living as an anonymous pureblood noble, excuse the term, whore.

I was trying to convey that by showing instead of telling but clearly I was too ambiguous and failed miserably xD This happens often though, so I guess that means I need to keep practising!

- Winteresque


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